Interference Exploitation in D2D-Enabled Cellular Networks: A Secrecy Perspective

Device-to-device (D2D) communication underlaying cellular networks is a promising technology to improve network resource utilization. In D2D-enabled cellular networks, interference generated by D2D communications is usually viewed as an obstacle to cellular communications. However, in this paper, we present a new perspective on the role of D2D interference by taking security issues into consideration. We consider a large-scale D2D-enabled cellular network with eavesdroppers overhearing cellular communications. Using stochastic geometry, we model such a network and analyze the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) distributions, connection probabilities and secrecy probabilities of both the cellular and D2D links. We propose two criteria for guaranteeing performances of secure cellular communications, namely the strong and weak performance guarantee criteria. Based on the obtained analytical results of link characteristics, we design optimal D2D link scheduling schemes under these two criteria respectively. Both analytical and numerical results show that the interference from D2D communications can enhance physical layer security of cellular communications and at the same time create extra transmission opportunities for D2D users.