Collaborative Research: CIF: Medium: Security through the Lens of Information Asymmetry: A Pragmatic Evolution of Goals and Models in Physical Layer Security

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The needs of future networks beyond 5G and Internet of Things call for a comprehensive and inclusive approach to security. By harnessing the imperfections of communication channels, physical-layer security integrates security concerns into the design of communication systems with benefits such as energy efficiency and simplified key management; physical-layer security often imposes requirements, however, which has impeded its practical adoption and deployment. Furthermore, in some applications where physical-layer security is uniquely suitable and no obvious cryptographic solution exists, such as situations requiring covertness, results to date have been disappointing in terms of predicted data transmission speeds. This project addresses these two points. The outcomes of this project can ensure secure wireless communications in future networks with minimal performance impact. The first thrust of this project brings a new perspective to the study of cooperative security through the lens of information asymmetry against adversaries. This part of the project aims to elucidate how cooperation can provide knowledge to one user about the variations in the channel induced by the signaling of another in a manner that creates new and hitherto unforeseen advantages over an adversary. The second thrust of this project explores the benefits of information asymmetry for covert communications, including the role of channel state knowledge, which is foreseen as a key mechanism to not only circumvent the square-root law of covert communication but also to alleviat the need for a shared secret key. The impact of different-quality channel states being available at different nodes will be studied.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.