CT-ISG Collaborative Research: Trusted Cooperative Transmission: Turning a Security Weakness into a Security Enhancement

协作传输是一种新兴的无线通信模式，它通过在物理层建立多用户协作来提高无线信道的容量。在协作传输中，当源节点向目的地节点发送消息时，偷听到该传输的附近节点将通过中继消息的副本来“帮助”源和目的地，并且目的地将联合收割机组合多个接收到的波形，以便改善链路质量。该技术与传统的无线连接的点对点链路抽象不同，预计将对网络性能和设计产生深远的影响。当前的协作传输算法设计、协议开发和性能评估都假设所有的无线节点都是可信的。 对安全问题的调查滞后。本研究针对合作传输的主要安全问题。特别是，合作传输是否为攻击者提供了破坏网络性能的新机会？相反，是否有新的方法通过物理层合作来保护无线网络？在安全领域开放的任何项目都有利于更大的社会，现在迫切需要真正的安全创新。 此外，该项目将通过其教育计划产生更广泛的影响，该计划的重点是一个外联方案，除了研究生和本科生的参与外，还包括高中适龄妇女/少数民族学生的校园夏令营和在线辅导小组。 总之，PI同样致力于通过有安全保证的合作传输来提高无线网络性能，并提高女性和少数民族对工程的参与。

Cooperative transmission is an emerging wireless communication paradigm that improves wireless channel capacity by creating multi-user cooperation in the physical layer. In cooperative transmission, when the source node transmits a message to the destination node, the nearby nodes that overheard this transmission will "help" the source and destination by relaying the replicas of the message, and the destination will combine the multiple received waveforms so as to improve the link quality. This technology departs from the traditional point-to-point link abstraction of wireless connections, and is expected to have a profound impact on network performance and design. The current algorithm design, protocol development and performance evaluation for cooperative transmission assume that all wireless nodes are trustworthy. Investigation of the security issues is lagging behind. This research addresses the major security issues related to cooperative transmission. In particular, does cooperative transmission provide new opportunities for attackers to undermine network performance? Conversely, are there new ways to defend wireless networks through physical layer cooperation? Any project in an open area in security benefits the larger society which now has urgent need of true innovations in security. In addition, this project will have broader impacts through its education plan, which focuses on an outreach program integrating campus summer camps for high school-age women/minority students and an online mentoring group, in addition to graduate and undergraduate student participation. In summary, the PIs are equally dedicated to improving wireless network performance through security-assured cooperative transmission and to enhancing female and minority participation in engineering.