Clustered jamming in U-V2X communications with 3D antenna beam-width fluctuations

Abstract

Jamming is the disruption of wireless communication signals, rendering them unreadable or degraded, typically caused by jamming devices. Clustered jamming in vehicular communications is a highly sophisticated attack technique characterized by the coordinated deployment of multiple jammers with the strategic intent to deliberately disrupt and incapacitate communication links, thereby presenting a formidable challenge to the reliability and security of vehicular networks. It is critical to address the intricate challenges imposed by clustered jamming in the context of vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications augmented by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), given their critical role in facilitating essential vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-UAV communication links. In this paper, we examine UAV-V2X (U-V2X) communications within the context of clustered jamming and the variations in the 3D beam-width of antennas. Also, mitigation techniques for clustered jamming in V2X communications are addressed. We consider the distribution of UAVs is governed by the Poisson point process, the distribution of vehicular-nodes (VNs) is governed by the Poisson line process, and the distribution of jammers is governed by the Matern Cluster Process. The analytical equations for the association probability and the success probability (SP) of a typical VN with the UAV and near-by VN, along with the presence of jammers and the variations of antenna beam-width are provided. Furthermore, we investigate the SP and spectral efficiency performance of the U-V2X network under different network configurations of UAVs, VNs, roads, jamming clusters, and transmit power of jamming devices. Our findings reveal that clustered jammers influence U-V2X network’s performance, further compounded by UAV beam-width fluctuations. Moreover, in low-density areas, UAVs demonstrate superior reliability for connectivity compared to VNs, despite clustered jamming. Also, lower UAV antenna fluctuations enhance UAVs’ dependability in U-V2X networks amidst clustered jamming. Specifically, for a given setup with τ= -5 dB, U-V2X link’s SP with jamming drops to one-quarter due to 2-degree beam-width fluctuations. Consequently, it is imperative to design and implement anti-jamming strategies, particularly as the number of jamming clusters and variations of antenna beam-width increase.