Security and Reliability Performance of Noise-Loop Modulation: Theoretical Analysis and Experimentation

Abstract

Security is a crucial feature of current (5G) and even more for future (6G) communication networks. While the innate nature of the wireless channel is an issue for guaranteeing security, its physical characteristics can be exploited for protecting confidential data. Physical-layer Security (PLS) mechanisms take advantage of unique features of the transmission media or of the user equipment to introduce an additional level of data protection. The physical-layer security (PLS) can be seen as the first level of defense. The noise-loop (NL) modulation is a PLS technique that intrinsically provides confidentiality. In this paper, we first provide the theoretical analysis to evaluate the reliability and security in multipath fading channels, and then the theoretical results are evaluated by experimentation. A Software Defined Radio (SDR) testbed that exploits the NL secure modulation was implemented and a measurement campaign has been carried out in an indoor environment, with passive and active malicious nodes. An evaluation of the complexity of the proposed system is also reported, showing that the NL has low hardware resource occupancy and low computational cost. These fundamental characteristics make the NL modulation a valid PLS technique for providing a security solution for beyond 5G and 6G networks.