CAREER: Foundations of Secure Communication in mmWave Networks

如今，越来越多的服务依赖于使用无线介质来传输大量固有的隐私数据，例如电子健康数据和信用卡信息。支持高数据速率的一种解决方案包括利用毫米波（mmWave）频谱中的通信频带，即从30 GHz到300 GHz的丰富频率范围。然而，由于其开放性和共享性，无线介质非常容易受到窃听攻击。传统的假设，窃听对手将有有限的计算能力被置于怀疑的最新趋势和进展（量子）计算。相反，在大型多跳毫米波网络中，可以合理地假设窃听者只能拦截她必须物理存在的链路子集上的传输。该项目的目标是提供简单而强大的mmWave网络抽象，并设计信息理论的最佳传输协议，无条件地防止外部窃听者具有无限的计算能力，但网络存在有限。该研究与利用获奖机构提供的独特机会的教育活动高度整合。该项目开发了一个信息理论框架，该框架捕获了多跳毫米波通信和窃听者能力的要素。第一个目标包括表征最大安全的信息流在单源单目的地多跳毫米波网络的推导出的匡威界和新的传输方案的设计。一个关键的方面是参数之间的权衡的特性，占节点的计算和处理能力，并提供一个目标的端到端的安全速率。第二个目标是为多跳毫米波网络开发信息理论最佳安全通信协议，其中多个合法的源-目的地对共享相同的资源，并希望在它们之间安全地通信。为此，合作产生的随机性和共享资源的好处，以及采用公共密钥代替私钥的优势，研究开发的架构，具有可证明的最佳缩放律的安全流动的信息在大型和密集的毫米波网络。毫米波通信预计将在广泛的应用中发挥关键作用，同时迫切需要协议来保持交换数据的机密性，这使得该项目与全球工业和社会需求相关。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Today, an ever-growing number of services rely on the use of the wireless medium to transfer sheer volumes of data that is inherently private, such as e-health data and credit card information. One solution to support high data rates consists of utilizing the communication bands in the millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum, that is, the abundant range of frequencies from 30 GHz to 300 GHz. Due to its openness and shared nature, however, the wireless medium is highly vulnerable to eavesdropping attacks. The traditional assumption that an eavesdropping adversary will have limited computational capabilities is placed in doubt by recent trends and advances in (quantum) computing. Conversely, in a large multi-hop mmWave network, it is reasonable to assume that an eavesdropper can intercept transmissions only over a subset of the links over which she has to be physically present. The goal of this project is to provide simple yet powerful abstractions of mmWave networks and to design information-theoretic optimal transmission protocols that are unconditionally secure against an external eavesdropper with unbounded computational capabilities but limited network presence. The research is highly integrated with educational activities that leverage the unique opportunities presented by the awardee institution.This project develops an information-theoretic framework that captures the essentials of multi-hop mmWave communication and eavesdroppers' capabilities. The first objective consists of characterizing the maximum secure information flow over single-source single-destination multi-hop mmWave networks with the derivation of converse bounds and the design of novel transmission schemes. A key aspect is the characterization of the trade-off between parameters that account for the computational and processing capabilities at the nodes and afford a target end-to-end secure rate. The second objective consists of developing information-theoretic optimal secure communication protocols for multi-hop mmWave networks where multiple legitimate source-destination pairs share the same resources and wish to securely communicate among themselves. Towards this end, the benefits of cooperation in generating randomness and sharing the resources, together with the advantages of employing common keys in place of private keys, are investigated to develop architectures that have provably optimal scaling laws for the secure flow of information over large and dense mmWave networks. The wide range of applications in which mmWave communication is foreseen to play a key role, together with the urgent need of protocols to maintain the confidentiality of the exchanged data, render this project relevant to global industrial and societal needs.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.