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，只有少数平台内置 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，但最近的调查结果表明 NFC 容易遭受恶意窃听。该项目开发安全且与传统移动设备和现有基础设施（例如 POS 终端）兼容的替代 NFC 技术。这种方法的关键新颖之处在于利用可见光和声学通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且无干扰的无线链接。同样，可以调制声音信号以实现近距离 NFC 通信。与现有 NFC 技术相比，这种方法具有几个关键优势。视觉和听觉通信通道都可以使用 LCD 显示器、麦克风和扬声器等常用组件来实现，从而形成纯粹基于软件的解决方案，可以轻松地利用 NFC 功能改造现有基础设施。其次，与射频通道相比，屏幕摄像头链接的方向和距离是可控的，保证了通信的隐私和安全。同样，与物理自干扰技术相结合，声学链路可以实现信息论安全，而无需预先共享秘密。在该项目中，采用一种新形式的可见光通信（VLC）来实现 NFC，其中二维条形码在 LCD 显示屏和摄像头之间传输。新的条形码设计和多种技术用于优化屏幕摄像头链接的吞吐量，其中包括代码块适应和重新排序以减轻移动环境中图像模糊的影响，以及用于条形码流实时解码的轻量级图像处理算法。基于几何分析对基于条形码的通信进行了系统的安全研究，并为智能手机开发了一种新的基于声学的 NFC 系统，而无需先验了解安全秘密。新兴的友好干扰技术用于为 NFC 建立信息理论上安全的通信通道。该项目还探索先进的编码技术、高级调制方案和其他物理层技术，以进一步提高数据传输速率并确保机密性保证。该项目是一项多学科研究工作，集成了视觉/声学通信、自适应自干扰、图像处理和密码学等新技术。结果对支付、访问控制和智能设备配对等一系列移动应用产生了影响。 PI 将把研究成果整合到几门课程中，并利用该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.