Secure Communications in Millimeter Wave Ad Hoc Networks

Yongxu Zhu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

138 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Wireless networks with directional antennas, like millimeter wave (mmWave) networks, have enhanced security. For a large-scale mmWave ad hoc network in which eavesdroppers are randomly located, however, eavesdroppers can still intercept the confidential messages, since they may reside in the signal beam. This paper explores the potential of physical layer security in mmWave ad hoc networks. Specifically, we characterize the impact of mmWave channel characteristics, random blockages, and antenna gains on the secrecy performance. For the special case of uniform linear array (ULA), a tractable approach is proposed to evaluate the average achievable secrecy rate. We also characterize the impact of artificial noise in such networks. Our results reveal that in the low transmit power regime, the use of low mmWave frequency achieves better secrecy performance, and when increasing transmit power, a transition from low mmWave frequency to high mmWave frequency is demanded for obtaining a higher secrecy rate. More antennas at the transmitting nodes are needed to decrease the antenna gain obtained by the eavesdroppers when using ULA. Eavesdroppers can intercept more information by using a wide beam pattern. Furthermore, the use of artificial noise may be ineffective forenhancing the secrecy rate.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3205-3217
JournalIEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • uniform linear array
  • average achievable secrecy rate
  • Ad hoc
  • beamforming
  • millimeter wave

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Secure Communications in Millimeter Wave Ad Hoc Networks'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this