Secure Communication Link Research Articles

Editorial for the Special Issue on Underwater Wireless Communications and Sensor Networks Technology

In the scientific, military, and industrial world, the deployment of robust, reliable, secure, and efficient wireless communication links is of particular importance [...]

An End-to-End Dual ASIC OFDM Transceiver for Ultrasound In-Body Communication.

Implanted medical devices need a reliable, secure and low-energy wireless communication link. Ultrasound (US) wave propagation is promising over other techniques due to its lower body attenuation, inherent security and well-studied physiological impact. While US communication systems have been proposed, they either neglect realistic channel conditions or fail to be integrated into small-scale, energy-scarce systems. Therefore, this work proposes a custom, hardware efficient OFDM modem optimized for the diverse needs of ultrasound in-body communication channels. This custom OFDM modem is implemented in an end-to-end dual ASIC transceiver: a 180nm BCD analog front end and a digital baseband chip in 65nm CMOS technology. Furthermore, the ASIC solution provides tuning knobs to increase the analog dynamic range, to update the OFDM parameters and to fully reprogram the baseband processing, necessary to adjust for the channel variability. Ex-vivo communication experiments on a 14cm thick piece of beef achieve 470kbps with BER 3e-4, while consuming 56nJ/bit and 10.9nJ/bit Tx/Rx.

Orbital angular momentum holographic multicasting for switchable and secure wireless optical communication links.

The physical dimension of orbital angular momentum (OAM) states of light has been successfully implemented as information carrier in wireless optical communication (WOC) links. However, the current OAM data coding strategies in WOC are mainly limited to the temporal domain, rarely involving the degree of freedom of spatial domain to transmit an image directly. Here, we apply OAM holographic multiplexing technology for spatial information encoding in WOC links. Further, we demonstrate the new concept of OAM holographic multicasting, wherein a beam-steering grating has been utilized for information decoding. To distribute the OAM multiplexing information appropriately in the receiving terminal, the beam-steering grating with controllable topological charges and amplitude weighting coefficients of each diffraction order in the spatial frequency domain has been designed. An iterative algorithm has been introduced to obtain the intensity uniformity >98% at target diffraction orders. As such, this scheme experimentally allows four separate users to receive independent images, which can be switched by modulating the topological charges of the beam-steering gratings at each diffraction order. In addition, this leads to a beam-steering grating-encrypted WOC links, wherein the information can only be decoded by the grating phase with 7 pre-set spatial frequency components. Our results mark a new parallel decoding paradigm of OAM multiplexing holography, which opens up the door for future high-capacity and high-security all-optical holographic communications.

Encrypted model predictive control design for security to cyberattacks

AbstractIn recent years, cyber‐security of networked control systems has become crucial, as these systems are vulnerable to targeted cyberattacks that compromise the stability, integrity, and safety of these systems. In this work, secure and private communication links are established between sensor–controller and controller–actuator elements using semi‐homomorphic encryption to ensure cyber‐security in model predictive control (MPC) of nonlinear systems. Specifically, Paillier cryptosystem is implemented for encryption‐decryption operations in the communication links. Cryptosystems, in general, work on a subset of integers. As a direct consequence of this nature of encryption algorithms, quantization errors arise in the closed‐loop MPC of nonlinear systems. Thus, the closed‐loop encrypted MPC is designed with a certain degree of robustness to the quantization errors. Furthermore, the trade‐off between the accuracy of the encrypted MPC and the computational cost is discussed. Finally, two chemical process examples are employed to demonstrate the implementation of the proposed encrypted MPC design.

Design of a Telepresence Robot to Avoid Obstacles in IoT-Enabled Sustainable Healthcare Systems

In the Internet of Things (IoT) era, telepresence robots (TRs) are increasingly a part of healthcare, academia, and industry due to their enormous benefits. IoT provides a sensor-based environment in which robots receive more precise information about their surroundings. The researchers work day and night to reduce cost, duration, and complexity in all application areas. It provides tremendous benefits, such as sustainability, welfare improvement, cost-effectiveness, user-friendliness, and adaptability. However, it faces many challenges in making critical decisions during motion, which requires a long training period and intelligent motion planning. These include obstacle avoidance during movement, intelligent control in hazardous situations, and ensuring the right measurements. Following up on these issues requires a sophisticated control design and a secure communication link. This paper proposes a control design to normalize the integration process and offer an auto-MERLIN robot with cognitive and sustainable architecture. A control design is proposed through system identification and modeling of the robot. The robot control design was evaluated, and a prototype was prepared for testing in a hazardous environment. The robot was tested by considering various parameters: driving straight ahead, turning right, self-localizing, and receiving commands from a remote location. The maneuverability, controllability, and stability results show that the proposed design is well-developed and cost-efficient, with a fast response time. The experimental results show that the proposed method significantly minimizes the obstacle collisions. The results confirm the employability and sustainability of the proposed design and demonstrate auto-MERLIN’s capabilities as a sustainable robot ready to be deployed in highly interactive scenarios.

Comparative Analysis Between 4G LTE and 5G NR: An Evaluation of Cellular Communications For V2X Technology

Abstract Cellular Vehicle-to-Everything (C-V2X) technologies are to allow vehicles to exchange information with each other, with the network, but also with other road users, based on secure, reliable, and high-capacity communication links. The use of C-V2X leads to improved road safety and traffic efficiency, over-the-air software updates, pollution reduction, and remote driving, which in the end support the implementation of autonomous vehicles. The main cellular communication standards used within the C-V2X technology are the following: 4G Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and 5G New Radio (NR). This paper follows both a theoretical analysis of cellular communications in the V2X technology, through a comparative analysis of the contribution of each of them concerning the offered technical specifications, and a practical part, where various performance indicators were validated using the Simu5G simulator, which can simulate wireless communication networks and network components with a behavior close to that experienced in real-life.

A location‐aware physical unclonable function and Chebyshev map‐based mutual authentication mechanism for internet of surveillance drones

SummaryThe primary concern for securing the Internet of Drones (IoD) is authentication. Drone location is a vital information that must be verified before a secure communication link with the ground station can be established. In this paper, a location aware mutual authentication technique for secure inter‐drone and drone to ground communication using physical unclonable functions and Chebyshev chaotic maps is proposed. This is the first work that addresses the location validation of drones along with server‐less inter‐drone communication with a fail‐safe mechanism designed using a fuzzy inference system to tackle drone failures. The security of the system is analyzed using Burrows–Abadi–Needham logic, real‐or‐random oracle model and ProVerif. The processing, communication, and storage costs of the proposed scheme are determined and compared to other drone mutual authentication protocols. The proposed mechanism outperforms the existing mutual authentication protocols with superior security features and performance attributes and is well suited for surveillance drone networks.

SecAODV: A Secure Healthcare Routing Scheme Based on Hybrid Cryptography in Wireless Body Sensor Networks.

In recent decades, the use of sensors has dramatically grown to monitor human body activities and maintain the health status. In this application, routing and secure data transmission are very important to prevent the unauthorized access by attackers to health data. In this article, we propose a secure routing scheme called SecAODV for heterogeneous wireless body sensor networks. SecAODV has three phases: bootstrapping, routing between cluster head nodes, and communication security. In the bootstrapping phase, the base station loads system parameters and encryption functions in the memory of sensor nodes. In the routing phase, each cluster head node calculates its degree based on several parameters, including, distance, residual energy, link quality, and the number of hops, to decide for rebroadcasting the route request (RREQ) message. In the communication security phase, a symmetric cryptography method is used to protect intra-cluster communications. Also, an asymmetric cryptography method is used to secure communication links between cluster head nodes. The proposed secure routing scheme is simulated in the network simulator version 2 (NS2) simulator. The simulation results are compared with the secure multi tier energy-efficient routing scheme (SMEER) and the centralized low-energy adaptive clustering hierarchy (LEACH-C). The results show that SecAODV improves end-to-end delay, throughput, energy consumption, packet delivery rate (PDR), and packet loss rate (PLR).

Internet of Flying Things security: A systematic review

SummaryToday, with the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT), Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can play a significant role in terms of stability, reliability, connectivity, and coverage. The integration of UAVs and IoT led to the Internet of Flying Things (IoFT). Internet of drones (IoD) is an infrastructure that provides access and control over the Internet between users and drones. One of the most critical challenges in IoFT and IoD is security. In this article, a systematic review is proposed to analyze the existing literature in the field of IoFT and IoD security. We explain the research methodology including the article selection process and the search queries. Thirteen articles were selected out of 166 articles that were published between 2019 and September 2021. Furthermore, the security approaches in the selected articles are classified into five main categories: security vulnerability and eavesdropping, security realization by Blockchain, secure trajectory and secure communication link, authentication and privacy approaches, and security‐enhanced resource allocation. The main ideas, advantages, disadvantages, the employed tools, and evaluation parameters of each selected article are also discussed in detail. Finally, we point out the open issues and orientations of future researches.

Interference-Resistant Communication framework for Sensor Nodes in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are becoming increasingly important for various aspects of modern communication. However, the lack of reliable and securecommunication between nodes of the WSN often hinders the realization of many of its potential applications. In order to overcome these issues, we propose an interference-resistant Communication Framework for Sensor Nodes in Wireless Sensor Networks (IRCF-WSN) which is based on the idea of combining different types of compatible transmission schemes to establish a secure and reliable communication link between nodes. The proposed framework aims to provide a secure and reliable connection between nodes of the WSN irrespective of the interference environment. In order to accomplish this goal, the framework combines several interference-resistant techniques like frequency hopping, spread spectrum, and beamforming to form multiple channels of connectivity whichare subsequently used for communication. Additionally, the framework also utilizes a novel routing algorithm to ensure that the most secure and reliable path is chosen for the communication. Simulation results indicate that using the proposed framework, the communication performance of the WSN can be improved significantly compared to existing solutions.

Ultrasound feasibility study for in body communication using OFDM modulation and small scale transducers

Ultrasound waves pose a promising alternative to the commonly used electromagnetic waves for in-body communication. This due to the lower ultrasound wave attenuation, the reduced health risks and the reduced external interference. These properties might realize a more reliable, low-energy, secure and high throughput in-body communication link. Current state-of-the-art ultrasound designs, however, are limited in their practical in-body deployment and reliability. This stems from their use of bulky, focused transducers, the use of simple modulation schemes or the absence of a realistic test environment and corresponding realistic channel models. This talk focuses on enabling communication with small-scale (2mm size) and omni-directional transducers (1.2 MHz center frequency). First, we will address the specific channel characteristics of such communication links. Second, to cope with these channel characteristics, we propose an OFDM modulation scheme, optimized for ultrasound in-body communication scenarios. Third, we will discuss the performance of a device optimized to assess this communication link.

Quantum Key Distribution Over a Channel with Scattering

Scattering of light by cloud, haze, and fog decreases the transmission efficiency of communication channels in quantum key distribution (QKD), reduces the system's practical security, and thus constrains the deployment of free-space QKD. Here, we employ wave-front shaping technology to compensate distorted optical signals in high-loss scattering quantum channels and fulfill a polarization-encoded BB84 QKD experiment. With this quantum-channel compensation technology, we achieve a typical enhancement of about 250 in transmission efficiency and build a secure communication link even considering finite key length effect, while the link is impossible to share secure keys before optimization. The method applied in the QKD system shows the potential to expand the application range of QKD systems from lossless channels to highly scattered ones and therefore enhances the deployment ability of a global quantum communication network.

A novel secure cooperative cognitive radio network based on Chebyshev map

Cooperative networks have been proposed as an efficient solution to improve the detection capability of a cognitive radio system. This type of networks is highly vulnerable to different attacks by malicious users, which leads to harmful interferences between the primary user and the secondary user. Therefore, secure communication links between the nodes cooperating in the network are extremely needed. To handle the security issues in centralized cooperative cognitive radio networks and minimize the charge of the secondary users, we proposed two new processes, namely authentication process and shifted spectrum sensing process. In the first process, we define a single and double authentication to detect the malicious users and eliminate them in the final sensing decision. These techniques are based on a secure compressive sensing method using the Chebyshev sensing matrix. In the second process, we present a new sensing technique based on a shifting concept and time-division to scan a wideband spectrum with a high probability of detection. Numerical simulations of the authentication process prove that the double authentication gives better results for malicious users detection for a compression ratio of 30%. While the simulation results of the shifted sensing process have led to define the appropriate energy threshold range, and the optimal value of the fusion center combiner that should be used for an efficient detection of the primary signal.

Active Multiple Access Secure Communication Enabled by Graphene-Based Time-Modulated Metasurfaces

This article presents a technique for establishing active secure communication links over single and multiple orthogonal frequency channels via a reflective graphene-based time-modulated metasurface operating in the low terahertz frequency regime. For this purpose, the Fermi energy level of unit cells is modulated via pseudorandom radio frequency biasing signals whose dc offsets are set to steer the reflected beam toward the desired direction by imposing a spatial phase gradient profile across the surface, while their waveforms are engineered to spread the incident wave spectrum into a noise-like spectrum with a near-zero power spectral density via random modulation of the reflection phase of each element between 0 and <inline-formula xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\pi $ </tex-math></inline-formula> with respect to its offset phase. This allows for addressing a legitimate user in real-time who can retrieve the signal via synchronous demodulation with the pseudorandom key of the metasurface while camouflaging the signal from the adversary by lowering the probability of detection. The approach is extended to enable multichannel secure communication by dividing the metasurface into interleaved subarrays modulated with orthogonal pseudorandom keys, which provides simultaneous and independent control over multiple beams with nonoverlapping spread spectra which can be retrieved by independent legitimate users while rejecting unwarranted access by eavesdroppers.

Design and analysis of Maxwell fisheye lens based beamformer

Antenna arrays and multi-antenna systems are essential in beyond 5G wireless networks for providing wireless connectivity, especially in the context of Internet-of-Everything. To facilitate this requirement, beamforming technology is emerging as a key enabling solution for adaptive on-demand wireless coverage. Despite digital beamforming being the primary choice for adaptive wireless coverage, a set of applications rely on pure analogue beamforming approaches, e.g., in point-to-multi point and physical-layer secure communication links. In this work, we present a novel scalable analogue beamforming hardware architecture that is capable of adaptive 2.5-dimensional beam steering and beam shaping to fulfil the coverage requirements. Beamformer hardware comprises of a finite size Maxwell fisheye lens used as a scalable feed network solution for a semi-circular array of monopole antennas. This unique hardware architecture enables a flexibility of using 2 to 8 antenna elements. Beamformer development stages are presented while experimental beam steering and beam shaping results show good agreement with the estimated performance.

Guest Editorial Special Issue on UAV Communications in 5G and Beyond Networks—Part II

Wireless communication is an essential technology to unlock the full potential of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in numerous applications and has thus received unprecedented attention recently. Although technologies such as direct link, WiFi, and satellite communications are still useful in some remote scenarios where cellular services are unavailable, it is believed that exploiting the thriving 5G and beyond cellular networks to support UAV communications is the most promising and cost-effective approach, especially when the number of UAVs grows dramatically. On the one hand, to guarantee safe and efficient flight operations of multiple UAVs, it is of paramount importance to provide secure and ultra-reliable communication links between the UAVs and their ground pilots or control stations for conveying command and control signals, especially in beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) scenarios. On the other hand, because of advances in communication equipment miniaturization as well as UAV manufacturing, mounting compact and lightweight base stations (BSs) or relays on UAVs becomes increasingly feasible. This has led to two promising research paradigms for UAV communications, namely, UAV-assisted cellular communications and cellular-connected UAVs, where UAVs are integrated into cellular networks as aerial communication platforms and aerial users, respectively. As such, integrating UAVs into cellular networks is believed to be a win-win technology for both UAV-related industries and cellular network operators, which not only creates plenty of new business opportunities but also benefits the communication performance of 3-D wireless networks. In addition, UAV related sensing and computing are also helpful for achieving efficient and reliable communication (e.g., in avoiding coverage holes) as well as smart UAV coordination, positioning, and trajectory design. However, 5G and beyond wireless networks with UAVs significantly differs from traditional communication systems, because of the high altitude and high maneuverability of UAVs, the unique UAV-ground channels, the diversified quality of service (QoS) requirements for downlink command and control (C&C) and uplink mission-related data transmission, the stringent constraints imposed by the size, weight, and power (SWAP) limitations of UAVs, as well as the new design degrees of freedom enabled by joint UAV mobility control and communication resource allocation.

Intelligent Reflecting Surface Assisted Free-Space Optical Communications

Free-space optical (FSO) systems are able to offer the high data-rate, secure, and cost-efficient communication links required for applications such as wireless front- and backhauling for 5G and 6G communication networks. Despite the substantial advancement of FSO systems over the past decades, the requirement of a line-of-sight connection between transmitter and receiver remains a key limiting factor for their deployment. In this article, we discuss the potential role of intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRSs) as a solution to relax this requirement. We present an overview of existing optical IRS technologies; compare optical IRSs with radio frequency IRSs and optical relays; and identify various open problems for future research on IRS-assisted FSO communications.

Guest Editorial Special Issue on UAV Communications in 5G and Beyond Networks—Part I

Wireless communication is an essential technology to unlock the full potential of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in numerous applications and has thus received unprecedented attention recently. Although technologies such as direct link, WiFi, and satellite communications are still useful in some remote scenarios where cellular services are unavailable, it is believed that exploiting the thriving 5G and beyond cellular networks to support UAV communications is the most promising and cost-effective approach, especially when the number of UAVs grows dramatically. On the one hand, to guarantee safe and efficient flight operations of multiple UAVs, it is of paramount importance to provide secure and ultra-reliable communication links between the UAVs and their ground pilots or control stations for conveying command and control signals, especially in beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) scenarios. On the other hand, because of advances in communication equipment miniaturization as well as UAV manufacturing, mounting compact and lightweight base stations (BSs) or relays on UAVs becomes increasingly feasible. This has led to two promising research paradigms for UAV communications, namely, UAV-assisted cellular communications and cellular-connected UAVs, where UAVs are integrated into cellular networks as aerial communication platforms and aerial users, respectively. As such, integrating UAVs into cellular networks is believed to be a win-win technology for both UAV-related industries and cellular network operators, which not only creates plenty of new business opportunities but also benefits the communication performance of 3-D wireless networks. In addition, UAV related sensing and computing are also helpful for achieving efficient and reliable communication (e.g., in avoiding coverage holes) as well as smart UAV coordination, positioning, and trajectory design. However, 5G and beyond wireless networks with UAVs significantly differs from traditional communication systems, because of the high altitude and high maneuverability of UAVs, the unique UAV-ground channels, the diversified quality of service (QoS) requirements for downlink command and control (C&C) and uplink mission-related data transmission, the stringent constraints imposed by the size, weight, and power (SWAP) limitations of UAVs, as well as the new design degrees of freedom enabled by joint UAV mobility control and communication resource allocation.

Delaunay Triangulation Based Key Distribution for Three-Dimensional Wireless Sensor Networks

The security of wireless sensor networks is a significant concern and can be achieved by the application of cryptographic algorithms. The symmetric key encryption techniques are widely used cryptographic mechanisms for the security of sensor networks due to its low computational complexity. A symmetric key encryption technique requires a secret key to be shared between both parties for confidential communication. In a wireless sensor network, it is difficult to know which node is going to be in its communication range at the deployment phase. If prior knowledge of sensor location exists, it is an added advantage and helps in the distribution of secret keys among nodes. Even if with the expected location information, distributing the keys properly among the nodes is a challenging task. A proper algorithm must be used so that it gives the adequate utilization of the distributed keys with a minimal number of keys per sensor node. In this paper, we propose a location-dependent key distribution scheme. We use Delaunay Triangulation for the efficient distribution of keys among sensor nodes. The method gives a high probability of secure communication links among nodes with high resilience to the network.

Feasibility of satellite-to-ground continuous-variable quantum key distribution

Establishing secure communication links at a global scale is a major potential application of quantum information science but also extremely challenging for the underlying technology. Although milestone experiments using satellite-to-ground links and exploiting singe-photon encoding for implementing quantum key distribution have shown recently that this goal is achievable, it is still necessary to further investigate practical solutions compatible with classical optical communication systems. Here, we examine the feasibility of establishing secret keys in a satellite-to-ground downlink configuration using continuous-variable encoding, which can be implemented using standard telecommunication components certified for space environment and able to operate at high symbol rates. Considering a realistic channel model and state-of-the-art technology, and exploiting an orbit subdivision technique for mitigating fluctuations in the transmission efficiency, we find positive secret key rates for a low-Earth-orbit scenario, whereas finite-size effects can be a limiting factor for higher orbits. Our analysis determines regions of values for important experimental parameters where secret key exchange is possible and can be used as a guideline for experimental efforts in this direction.