Title :
Diffie´s Wireless Phone: Heterodyning-Based Physical-Layer Encryption
Author :
Chiang, Jerry T. ; Yih-Chun Hu
Author_Institution :
Adv. Digital Sci. Center, Singapore, Singapore
Abstract :
We propose a physical-layer encryption scheme inspired by Diffie´s telephone system. Instead of the usual XOR-then-modulate encryption scheme, we propose using modulate-then-add, and show that the decryption operation can be implemented using the circuit operation of heterodyning. We then show that a slightly modified superheterodyne receiver performs decryption at no additional cost compared to existing receivers. Our proposed cryptosystem is significant to the research community for the following reasons: 1) Our physical-layer encryption scheme uniquely outperforms other physical-layer security protocols by guaranteeing positive conditional secrecy capacity as long as Bob´s signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio is above a threshold, even if Eve´s channel condition is the same or significantly better than Bob´s or if the channel between Alice and Bob is static, and 2) Our physical-layer encryption scheme shows that by removing a filter that the wireless circuit community has long considered to be necessary in the superheterodyne design, the modified receiver offers intriguing security features.
Keywords :
cryptography; heterodyne detection; mobile handsets; radio receivers; Diffie wireless phone; XOR-then-modulate encryption scheme; cryptosystem; decryption operation; heterodyning-based physical-layer encryption; modulate-then-add; physical-layer security protocols; signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio; superheterodyne receiver; Ciphers; Encryption; Local oscillators; Receivers; Signal to noise ratio; Wireless communication;
Conference_Titel :
Military Communications Conference, MILCOM 2013 - 2013 IEEE
Conference_Location :
San Diego, CA
DOI :
10.1109/MILCOM.2013.87