An Algorithm for Global Maximization of Secrecy Rates in Gaussian MIMO Wiretap Channels

Optimal signaling for secrecy rate maximization in Gaussian MIMO wiretap channels is considered. While this channel has attracted a significant attention recently and a number of results have been obtained, including the proof of the optimality of Gaussian signalling, an optimal transmit covariance matrix is known for some special cases only and the general case remains an open problem. An iterative custom-made algorithm to find a globally-optimal transmit covariance matrix in the general case is developed in this paper, with guaranteed convergence to a \textit{global} optimum. While the original optimization problem is not convex and hence difficult to solve, its minimax reformulation can be solved via the convex optimization tools, which is exploited here. The proposed algorithm is based on the barrier method extended to deal with a minimax problem at hand. Its convergence to a global optimum is proved for the general case (degraded or not) and a bound for the optimality gap is given for each step of the barrier method. The performance of the algorithm is demonstrated via numerical examples. In particular, 20 to 40 Newton steps are already sufficient to solve the sufficient optimality conditions with very high precision (up to the machine precision level), even for large systems. Even fewer steps are required if the secrecy capacity is the only quantity of interest. The algorithm can be significantly simplified for the degraded channel case and can also be adopted to include the per-antenna power constraints (instead or in addition to the total power constraint). It also solves the dual problem of minimizing the total power subject to the secrecy rate constraint.Comment: accepted by IEEE Transactions on Communication

Algorithms for Globally-Optimal Secure Signaling over Gaussian MIMO Wiretap Channels Under Interference Constraints

Multi-user Gaussian MIMO wiretap channel is considered under interference power constraints (IPC), in addition to the total transmit power constraint (TPC). Algorithms for \textit{global} maximization of its secrecy rate are proposed. Their convergence to the secrecy capacity is rigorously proved and a number of properties are established analytically. Unlike known algorithms, the proposed ones are not limited to the MISO case and are proved to converge to a \textit{global} rather than local optimum in the general MIMO case, even when the channel is not degraded. In practice, the convergence is fast as only a small to moderate number of Newton steps is required to achieve a high precision level. The interplay of TPC and IPC is shown to result in an unusual property when an optimal point of the max-min problem does not provide an optimal transmit covariance matrix in some (singular) cases. To address this issue, an algorithm is developed to compute an optimal transmit covariance matrix in those singular cases. It is shown that this algorithm also solves the dual (nonconvex) problems of \textit{globally} minimizing the total transmit power subject to the secrecy and interference constraints; it provides the minimum transmit power and respective signaling strategy needed to achieve the secrecy capacity, hence allowing power savings.Comment: accepted for publicatio

Solutions for the MIMO Gaussian Wiretap Channel with a Cooperative Jammer

We study the Gaussian MIMO wiretap channel with a transmitter, a legitimate receiver, an eavesdropper and an external helper, each equipped with multiple antennas. The transmitter sends confidential messages to its intended receiver, while the helper transmits jamming signals independent of the source message to confuse the eavesdropper. The jamming signal is assumed to be treated as noise at both the intended receiver and the eavesdropper. We obtain a closed-form expression for the structure of the artificial noise covariance matrix that guarantees no decrease in the secrecy capacity of the wiretap channel. We also describe how to find specific realizations of this covariance matrix expression that provide good secrecy rate performance, even when there is no non-trivial null space between the helper and the intended receiver. Unlike prior work, our approach considers the general MIMO case, and is not restricted to SISO or MISO scenarios