Physical layer security (PLS) has emerged as a new concept and powerful alternative that can complement and may even replace encryption-based approaches, which entail many hurdles and practical problems for future wireless systems. The basic idea of PLS is to exploit the characteristics of the wireless channel and its impairments including noise, fading, interference, dispersion, diversity, etc. in order to ensure the ability of the intended user to successfully perform data decoding while preventing eavesdroppers from doing so. Thus, the main design goal of PLS is to increase the performance difference between the link of the legitimate receiver and that of the eavesdropper by using well-designed transmission schemes. In this survey, we propose a conceptual, generic, and expandable framework for classifying the existing PLS techniques against wireless passive eavesdropping. In this flexible framework, the security techniques that we comprehensively review in this treatise are divided into two primary approaches: signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio-based approach and complexity-based approach. The first approach is classified into three major categories: first, secrecy channel codes-based schemes; second, security techniques based on channel adaptation; third, schemes based on injecting interfering artificial (noise/jamming) signals along with the transmitted information signals. The second approach (complexity-based), which is associated with the mechanisms of extracting secret sequences from the shared channel, is classified into two main categories based on which layer the secret sequence obtained by channel quantization is applied on. The techniques belonging to each one of these categories are divided and classified into three main signal domains: time, frequency and space. For each one of these domains, several examples are given and illustrated along with the review of the state-of-the-art security advances in each domain. Moreover, the advantages and disadvantages of each approach alongside the lessons learned from existing research works are stated and discussed. The recent applications of PLS techniques to different emerging communication systems such as visible light communication, body area network, power line communication, Internet of Things, smart grid, mm-Wave, cognitive radio, vehicular ad-hoc network, unmanned aerial vehicle, ultra-wideband, device-to-device, radio-frequency identification, index modulation, and 5G non-orthogonal multiple access based-systems, are also reviewed and discussed. The paper is concluded with recommendations and future research directions for designing robust, efficient and strong security methods for current and future wireless systems.

Classifications and Applications of Physical Layer Security Techniques for Confidentiality: A Comprehensive Survey

Millimeter wave (mmWave) communication has raised increasing attentions from both academia and industry due to its exceptional advantages. Compared with existing wireless communication techniques, such as WiFi and 4G, mmWave communications adopt much higher carrier frequencies and thus come with advantages including huge bandwidth, narrow beam, high transmission quality, and strong detection ability. These advantages can well address difficult situations caused by recent popular applications using wireless technologies. For example, mmWave communications can significantly alleviate the skyrocketing traffic demand of wireless communication from video streaming. Meanwhile, mmWave communications have several natural disadvantages, e.g., severe signal attenuation, easily blocked by obstacles, and small coverage, due to its short wavelengths. Hence, the major challenge is how to overcome its shortcomings while fully utilizing its advantages. In this paper, we present a taxonomy based on the layered model and give an extensive review on mmWave communications. Specially, we divide existing efforts into four categories that investigate: physical layer, medium access control (MAC) layer, network layer, and cross layer optimization, respectively. First, we present an overview of some technical details in physical layer. Second, we summarize available literature in MAC layer that pertains to protocols and scheduling schemes. Third, we make an in-depth survey of related research work in network layer, providing brain storming and methodology for enhancing the capacity and coverage of mmWave networks. Fourth, we analyze available research work related to cross layer allocation/optimization for mmWave communications. Fifth, we make a review of mmWave applications to illustrate how mmWave technology can be employed to satisfy other services. At the end of each section described above, we point out the inadequacy of existing work and identify the future work. Sixth, we present some available resources for mmWave communications, including related books about mmWave, commonly used mmWave frequencies, existing protocols based on mmWave, and experimental platforms. Finally, we have a simple summary and point out several promising future research directions.

Millimeter Wave Communication: A Comprehensive Survey

The small carrier wavelength at millimeter-wave (mm-Wave) frequencies enables featuring a large number of co-located antennas. This paper exploits the potential of large antenna arrays to develop a low-complexity directional modulation technique, Antenna Subset Modulation (ASM), for point-to-point secure wireless communication. The main idea in ASM is to modulate the radiation pattern at the symbol rate by driving only a subset of antennas in the array. This results in a directional radiation pattern that projects a sharply defined constellation in the desired direction and expanded further randomized constellation in other directions. Two techniques for implementing ASM are proposed. The first technique selects an antenna subset randomly for every symbol. While randomly switching antenna subsets does not affect the symbol modulation for a desired receiver along the main direction, it effectively randomizes the amplitude and phase of the received symbol for an eavesdropper along a sidelobe. Using a simplified statistical model, an expression for the average uncoded symbol error rate (SER) is derived as a function of the observation angle. To overcome the problem of large sidelobes in random antenna subset switching, the second technique uses an optimized antenna subset selection procedure based on simulated annealing to achieve superior performance compared with random selection. Numerical comparisons of the SER performance and secrecy capacity of the proposed techniques against those of conventional array transmission are presented to highlight the potential of ASM.

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Antenna Subset Modulation for Secure Millimeter-Wave Wireless Communication

Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) is a new paradigm that has great potential to achieve cost-effective, energy-efficient information modulation for wireless transmission, by the ability to change the reflection coefficients of the unit cells of a programmable metasurface. Nevertheless, the electromagnetic responses of the RISs are usually only phase-adjustable, which considerably limits the achievable rate of RIS-based transmitters. In this paper, we propose an RIS architecture to achieve amplitude-and-phase-varying modulation, which facilitates the design of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) transmission. The hardware constraints of the RIS and their impacts on the system design are discussed and analyzed. Furthermore, the proposed approach is evaluated using our prototype which implements the RIS-based MIMO-QAM transmission over the air in real time.

MIMO Transmission Through Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface: System Design, Analysis, and Implementation

In order to formalize and extend on previous ad-hoc analysis and synthesis methods a theoretical treatment using vector representations of directional modulation (DM) systems is introduced and used to achieve DM transmitter characteristics. An orthogonal vector approach is proposed which allows the artificial orthogonal noise concept derived from information theory to be brought to bear on DM analysis and synthesis. The orthogonal vector method is validated and discussed via bit error rate (BER) simulations.

A Vector Approach for the Analysis and Synthesis of Directional Modulation Transmitters

A four-symbol modulation is created by repeated switching of phase shifters in a phased array, in a technique known as directional modulation (DM). The phase shifts are chosen to minimize the bit error rate (BER) in a line-of-sight channel in a desired direction while maximizing the BER elsewhere. A DM transmitter is demonstrated in an anechoic chamber, and results are compared with a traditional baseband QPSK modulation using the same phased array. Experiments indicate that the DM transmitter creates a narrower region of low BERs around the desired direction than the traditional phased array while maintaining high BERs in the sidelobe regions.

Demonstration of Directional Modulation Using a Phased Array

Long range underwater acoustic communications are challenging since this channel is severely band limited, time varying, and has a long delay spread A linear turbo equalizer is a good candidate for communicating over this channel, because it achieves a high level of spectral efficiency with a realizable complexity As the channel is FIR, the convergence of the turbo equalizer is improved by recursive precoding of the signal before transmission In this paper, we present a scheme for receiving a precoded transmission using a linear equalizer Also, experimental results demonstrating high data rates achieved via precoding for long range underwater acoustic communications are presented

Linear turbo equalization with precoding for underwater acoustic communications

The gain-bandwidth product of a conventional antenna is limited by its electrical size. Synchronous antenna tuning circumvents the limited bandwidth of a time-invariant resonant antenna by modifying the impedance match of the antenna in synchrony with the communications signal. This paper extends an investigation of tuning a VLF antenna in synchrony with a frequency shift keyed (FSK) signal to higher frequencies using varactor diodes rather than mechanical tuning.

Synchronously tuned patch for transmitting FSK

The modulated wideband converter (MWC) introduced in [1] enables a wide band of spectrum to be sensed using inexpensive components. The MWC spreads the received signal in frequency, which allows the spectral occupancy to be sensed from sub-Nyquist rate samples via compressive sensing techniques. This paper compares embedding the MWC into the tuning circuit of the antenna with placing it in the receive chain. We demonstrate that embedding the MWC into the tuning circuit of the antenna can enhance the search bandwidth of the system.

The effect of modulated wideband converter placement on compressive spectrum sensing

This paper explores using a rapidly tuned, narrowband device as an analog-to-information converter (AIC). This concept is applied to a rapidly tuned, instantaneously narrowband antenna. Such a setup is advantageous in cognitive radio, where an antenna designed for communicating over a portion of the spectrum may be used to meet the wideband spectrum sensing requirement. A method for reducing the bandwidth of the control signal below the Nyquist rate is also discussed.

Erica L. Daly

Papers

Demonstration of Directional Modulation Using a Phased Array

Linear turbo equalization with precoding for underwater acoustic communications

Synchronously tuned patch for transmitting FSK

The effect of modulated wideband converter placement on compressive spectrum sensing

The rapidly tuned analog-to-information converter