NeTS: Small: Collaborative Research: Realizing Visual and Acoustic Near Field Communication Systems for Smartphones: Performance Optimization and Security Assurance

近场通信（NFC）是一种新兴的无线技术，有望彻底改变一系列移动应用。然而，只有有限数量的平台内置了NFC支持，这阻碍了NFC的广泛使用。此外，虽然NFC的短通信范围提供了一定程度的物理保护，但最近的研究结果显示，NFC容易受到恶意窃听。该项目开发安全且与传统移动设备和现有基础设施（如POS终端）兼容的替代NFC技术。该方法的关键新颖之处在于利用可见光和声道来实现具有强大性能和安全保证的NFC系统。由于窄光束的高方向性，可见光可以实现安全和无干扰的无线链路。类似地，声学信号可以被调制用于近距离的NFC通信。与现有的NFC技术相比，这种方法具有几个关键优势。视觉和声学通信通道都可以使用LCD显示器、麦克风和扬声器等流行组件来实现，这导致了纯粹基于软件的解决方案，可以轻松地用NFC功能改造现有的基础设施。其次，与射频信道相比，屏摄链路的方向和距离是可控的，保证了通信的私密性和安全性。同样，与物理自干扰技术相结合，声学链路可以在不需要预先共享秘密的情况下实现信息理论上的安全。在这个项目中，采用一种新的可见光通信（VLC）形式来实现NFC，其中二维条形码在LCD显示器和摄像头之间传输。为了优化屏摄链路的吞吐量，采用了一种新的条码设计和几种技术，包括码块自适应和重新排序以减轻移动环境下图像模糊的影响，以及用于实时解码条码流的轻量级图像处理算法。对基于几何分析的条形码通信进行了系统的安全性研究，开发了一种新的基于声学的智能手机NFC系统，无需先验的安全秘密知识。利用新兴的友好干扰技术为近场通信建立了理论上信息安全的通信通道。探索先进的编码技术、高级调制方案等物理层技术，进一步提高数据传输速率，确保保密性。该项目是一个多学科的研究成果，整合了视觉/声学通信、自适应自干扰、图像处理和密码学等新技术。其结果对一系列移动应用程序产生了影响，如支付、访问控制和智能设备配对。pi将把研究成果整合到几门课程中，并利用项目的有趣性质来接触大学预科学生。

Near-Field Communication (NFC) is an emerging wireless technology that expects to revolutionize a range of mobile applications. However, the widespread use of NFC is hindered by the fact that only a limited number of platforms have built-in NFC support. Moreover, while NFC's short communication range offers some degree of physical protection, recent findings have revealed NFC's vulnerability to malicious eavesdropping. This project develops alternative NFC technologies that are secure and compatible with legacy mobile devices and existing infrastructure (e.g., POS terminals). The key novelty of this approach is to leverage visible light and acoustic channels to realize NFC systems with robust performance and security assurance. Due to the high directionality of narrow light beams, visible light can enable secure and interference-free wireless links. Similarly, acoustic signal can be modulated for NFC communication in close proximity. This approach offers several key advantages over the existing NFC technology. Both visual and acoustic communication channels can be implemented using prevalent components such as LCD displays, microphones, and speakers, which lead to purely software-based solutions that can easily retrofit existing infrastructure with NFC functionality. Second, in contrast to RF channels, the direction and distance of screen-camera link are controllable, preserving the communication privacy and security. Similarly, integrated with physical self-jamming techniques, the acoustic link can achieve information-theoretic security without the need for pre-shared secrets.In this project, a new form of Visible Light Communication (VLC) is employed to implement NFC, where 2D barcodes are streamed between LCD display and camera. A new barcode design and several techniques are used to optimize the throughput of screen-camera link, which include code block adaptation and re-ordering to mitigate the impact of image blur in mobile environments, and lightweight image processing algorithms for real-time decoding of barcode stream. A systematic security study is conducted on barcode-based communication based on geometric analysis and a new acoustics-based NFC system is developed for smartphones without the need of a priori knowledge of security secrets. The emerging friendly jamming techniques are utilized for establishing an information-theoretically secure communication channel for NFC. This project also explores advanced coding techniques, high-level modulation schemes and other physical layer techniques for further improving the data transmission rates and ensuring confidentiality guarantee.This project is a multi-disciplinary research effort that integrates novel technologies from visual/acoustic communication, adaptive self-jamming, image processing, and cryptography. The results have impacts on a range of mobile applications such as payment, access control, and smart device paring. The PIs will integrate research results into several courses, and leverage the intriguing nature of the project for reaching out to pre-college students.