Novel Physical Layer Authentication Techniques for Secure Wireless Communications

Due to the open nature of radio propagation, information security in wireless communications has been facing more challenges compared to its counterpart in wired networks. Authentication, defined as an important aspect of information security, is the process of verifying the identity of transmitters to prevent against spoofing attacks. Traditionally, secure wireless communications is achieved by relying solely upon higher layer cryptographic mechanisms. However, cryptographic approaches based on complex mathematical calculations are inefficient and vulnerable to various types of attacks. Recently, researchers have shown that the unique properties of wireless channels can be exploited for authentication enhancement by providing additional security protection against spoofing attacks. Motivated by the vulnerability of existing higher-layer security techniques and the security advantages provided by exploring the physical link properties, five novel physical layer authentication techniques to enhance the security performance of wireless systems are proposed. The first technique exploits the inherent properties of CIR to achieve robust channel-based authentication. The second and third techniques utilize a long-range channel predictor and additional multipath delay characteristics, respectively, to enhance the CIR-based authentication. The fourth technique exploits the advantages of AF cooperative relaying to improve traditional channel-based authentication. The last technique employs an embedded confidential signaling link to secure the legitimate transmissions in OFDM systems

Coherent and Non-coherent Techniques for Cooperative Communications

Future wireless network may consist of a cluster of low-complexity battery-powered nodes or mobile stations (MS). Information is propagated from one location in the network to another by cooperation and relaying. Due to the channel fading or node failure, one or more relaying links could become unreliable during multiple-hop relaying. Inspired by conventional multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) techniques exploiting multiple co-located transmit antennas to introduce temporal and spatial diversity, the error performance and robustness against channel fading of a multiple-hop cooperative network could be significantly improved by creating a virtual antenna array (VAA) with various distributed MIMO techniques. In this thesis, we concentrate on the low-complexity distributed MIMO designed for both coherent and non-coherent diversity signal reception at the destination node. Further improvement on the network throughput as well as spectral efficiency could be achieved by extending the concept of unidirectional relaying to bidirectional cooperative communication. Physical-layer network coding (PLNC) assisted distributed space-time block coding (STBC) scheme as well as non-coherent PLNC aided distributed differential STBC system are proposed. It is confirmed by the theoretical analysis that both approaches have the potential for offering full spatial diversity gain. 　　 Furthermore, differential encoding and non-coherent detection techniques are generally associated with performance degradation due to the doubled noise variance. More importantly, conventional differential schemes suffer from the incapability of recovering the source information in time-varying channels owing to the assumption of static channel model used in the derivation of non-coherent detection algorithm. Several low-complexity solutions are proposed and studied in this thesis, which are able to compensate the performance loss caused by non-coherent detection and guarantee the reliable recovery of information in applications with high mobility. A substantial amount of iteration gain is achieved by combining the differential encoding with error-correction code and sufficient interleaving, which allows iterative possessing at the receiver

Cooperative strategies design based on the diversity and multiplexing tradeoff

This thesis focuses on designing wireless cooperative communication strategies that are either optimal or near-optimal in terms of the tradeoff between diversity and multiplexing gains. Starting from classical cooperative broadcast, multiple-access and relay channels with unit degree of freedom, to more general cooperative interference channels with higher degrees of freedom, properties of different network topologies are studied and their unique characteristics together with several advanced interference management techniques are exploited to design cooperative transmission strategies in order to enhance data rate, reliability or both at the same time. Moreover, various algorithms are proposed to solve practical implementation issues and performance is analyzed through both theoretical verifications and simulations

Performance analysis of cooperative diversity in land mobile satellite systems.

Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.Land Mobile Satellite Systems (LMSS) generally differ from other terrestrial wireless systems. The LMSS exhibit unique characteristics with regard to the physical layer, interference scenarios, channel impairements, propagation delay, link characteristics, service coverage, user and satellite mobility etc. Terrestrial wireless systems have employed the spatial diversity or MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technique in addressing the problem of providing uninterrupted service delivery to all mobile users especially in places where non-Line-of-Sight (NLoS) condition is prevalent (e.g. urban and suburban environments). For the LMSS, cooperative diversity has been proposed as a valuable alternative to the spatial diversity technique since it does not require the deployment of additional antennas in order to mitigate the fading effects. The basis of cooperative diversity is to have a group of mobile terminals sharing their antennas in order to generate a “virtual” multiple antenna, thus obtaining the same effects as the conventional MIMO system. However, the available cooperative diversity schemes as employed are based on outdated channel quality information (CQI) which is impracticable for LMSS due to its peculiar characteristics and its particularly long propagation delay. The key objective of this work is therefore to develop a cooperative diversity technology model which is most appropriate for LMSS and also adequately mitigates the outdated CQI challenge. To achieve the objective, the feasibility of cooperative diversity for LMSS was first analyzed by employing an appropriate LMSS channel model. Then, a novel Predictive Relay Selection (PRS) cooperative diversity scheme for LMSS was developed which adequately captured the LMSS architecture. The PRS cooperative scheme developed employed prediction algorithms, namely linear prediction and pattern-matching prediction algorithms in determining the future CQI of the available relay terminals before choosing the most appropriate relay for cooperation. The performance of the PRS cooperative diversity scheme in terms of average output SNR, outage probability, average channel capacity and bit error probability were simulated, then numerically analyzed. The results of the PRS cooperative diversity model for LMSS developed not only showed the gains resulting from introducing cooperative techniques in satellite communications but also showed improvement over other cooperative techniques that based their relay selection cooperation on channels with outdated quality information (CQI). Finally, a comparison between the results obtained from the various predictive models considered was carried out and the best prediction model was recommended for the PRS cooperation

Synchronization in Cognitive Overlay Systems

The primary purpose of this thesis is to study the effect of synchronization problems in cognitive radio based overlay systems. In such systems the secondary transmitter should know the transmission timing of the primary transmitter for cooperation to take place between the two systems. The thesis also investigates the effect of relaying in overlay systems. By splitting the secondary transmission power into two parts by a ratio alpha, the secondary transmitter can relay the primary transmission while transmitting its own message. Another aim of the thesis is to study the effects of time and frequency offsets in the primary and the secondary systems. Hence, time and frequency synchronization issues are investigated for DVB-T and LTE systems individually. Cell search and selection procedures are also studied for LTE systems. Two N200 Universal Software Radio Peripherals (USRPs) were used to transmit and receive the signal using the Gnu Radio platform and the captured signals were post processed in Matlab to study the effects of time offset and frequency offset of the devices. Moreover, a Matlab simulation was used to investigate the effect of timing offset between primary and secondary transmitters in overlay systems. From the investigation of the overlay scenario with relay, we have found out that the relaying introduce a multi-path effect at the secondary receiver. If there is a delay between the primary and the secondary receivers, the components of the multi-path signal might be added-up in such a way that it is impossible to separate the primary and the secondary signals at the secondary receiver. Hence, we have implemented synchronization and equalization algorithms to estimate the delay and frequency offsets. We observed that the performance of the equalizer at the secondary receiver deteriorates for high delays and low alpha values

Cross-Layer design and analysis of cooperative wireless networks relying on efficient coding techniques

2011/2012This thesis work aims at analysing the performance of efficient cooperative techniques and of smart antenna aided solutions in the context of wireless networks. Particularly, original contributions include a performance analysis of distributed coding techniques for the physical layer of communication systems, the design of practical efficient coding schemes that approach the analytic limiting bound, the cross-layer design of cooperative medium access control systems that incorporate and benefit from advanced physical layer techniques, the study of the performance of such solutions under realistic network assumptions, and, finally the design of access protocols where nodes are equipped with smart antenna systems.XXV Ciclo198

A Tutorial on Interference Exploitation via Symbol-Level Precoding: Overview, State-of-the-Art and Future Directions

IEEE Interference is traditionally viewed as a performance limiting factor in wireless communication systems, which is to be minimized or mitigated. Nevertheless, a recent line of work has shown that by manipulating the interfering signals such that they add up constructively at the receiver side, known interference can be made beneficial and further improve the system performance in a variety of wireless scenarios, achieved by symbol-level precoding (SLP). This paper aims to provide a tutorial on interference exploitation techniques from the perspective of precoding design in a multi-antenna wireless communication system, by beginning with the classification of constructive interference (CI) and destructive interference (DI). The definition for CI is presented and the corresponding mathematical characterization is formulated for popular modulation types, based on which optimization-based precoding techniques are discussed. In addition, the extension of CI precoding to other application scenarios as well as for hardware efficiency is also described. Proof-of-concept testbeds are demonstrated for the potential practical implementation of CI precoding, and finally a list of open problems and practical challenges are presented to inspire and motivate further research directions in this area