Jamming and Eavesdropping Defense in Green Cyber–Physical Transportation Systems Using a Stackelberg Game

Abstract

This paper studies the secure transmission rate issue between sensors and the remote controller to defend the jamming and eavesdropping attacks in green cyber–physical transportation systems. In this system, the traffic sensor transmits the transportation state information to the remote controller via wireless networks. Due to the broadcast characteristics of the wireless communication, the systems are vulnerable to the eavesdropping and jamming attacks. In this paper, we study how to maximize the secure transmission rate between sensors and the controller in the presence of a malicious eavesdropper and a jammer. Specifically, the malicious jammer is smart and can choose the optimal power strategy to maximize the side effect with the knowledge of sensor's transmission power. For the purpose of achieving the maximum utility, the optimal strategy is determined via adjusting the sensor's transmission power according to the control feedback conditions. We consider the single-antenna model and the multiantenna model to formulate this problem as an optimization problem based on a Stackelberg game. We then prove the existence of the Stackelberg equilibrium via the interaction between the sensor and the jammer. Moreover, we present two algorithms to obtain the optimal transmission strategy, i.e., a stochastic algorithm with feedback and renewed intelligent simulated annealing. Finally, extensive simulations and trace experimental results are presented to verify our theoretical analysis.