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Barkhausen Institut

Physical Layer Security

How can we improve the security of IoT systems using their unique random physical properties?

Security is one of the key requirements for the future acceptance of IoT networks. Existing security solutions are based on data encryption using secret keys, which require a trustworthy and complex architecture for their distribution.

As an alternative to conventional key distribution, the encryption keys can be generated using the unique physical layer characteristics of the wireless communication. The radio wave propagation between every “pair” (transmitter and receiver) is unique and reciprocal. Its properties cannot be obtained by a third-party eavesdropper at another location. That is, the signal will suffer many reflections between the transmitter and the receiver. The eavesdropper will also observe the signal, but, since the distances are different, he will experience these reflections differently from the receiver.

Hence, the radio channel is suitable as a random secret source of information to generate and exchange a security key.

This concept is one of the possibilities of what is called Physical Layer Security. 

 

Publications

Amitha Mayya, Miroslav Mitev, Arsenia Chorti, Gerhard Fettweis, Effects of Channel Characteristics and Design Parameters on Secret Key Generation Rates, European Conference on Networks and Communications, 2023, Download PDF

@conference{
Mayya.202306,
title = "Effects of Channel Characteristics and Design Parameters on Secret Key Generation Rates",
author = "Amitha Mayya, Miroslav Mitev, Arsenia Chorti, Gerhard Fettweis",
year = "2023",
booktitle = "European Conference on Networks and Communications",
month = "06"
}
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Miroslav Mitev, Arsenia Chorti, Vincent Poor, Gerhard Fettweis, What Physical Layer Security Can Do for 6G Security, IEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technology, 2023, Download PDF

@article{
mitev:2023,
title = "What Physical Layer Security Can Do for 6G Security",
author = "Miroslav Mitev, Arsenia Chorti, Vincent Poor, Gerhard Fettweis",
year = "2023",
journal = "IEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technology",
month = "02",
volume = "4",
pages = "375 - 388",
doi = "10.1109/OJVT.2023.3245071"
}
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Minh Thuy Pham, Miroslav Mitev, Arsenia Chorti, Gerhard Fettweis, Pilot Randomization to Protect MIMO Secret Key Generation Systems Against Injection Attacks, IEEE Wireless Communications Letters, 2023, Download PDF

@article{
pham:2023,
title = "Pilot Randomization to Protect MIMO Secret Key Generation Systems Against Injection Attacks",
author = "Minh Thuy Pham, Miroslav Mitev, Arsenia Chorti, Gerhard Fettweis",
year = "2023",
journal = "IEEE Wireless Communications Letters",
month = "04",
pages = "1 - 1",
doi = "{10.1109/LWC.2023.3268714}"
}
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Stefano Tomasin, Hongliang Zhang, Arsenia Chorti, Vincent Poor, Challenge-Response Physical Layer Authentication Over Partially Controllable Channels, IEEE Communications Magazine, 2022, Download PDF

@article{
AC_Comm-Magazine2022,
title = "Challenge-Response Physical Layer Authentication Over Partially Controllable Channels",
author = "Stefano Tomasin, Hongliang Zhang, Arsenia Chorti, Vincent Poor",
year = "2022",
journal = "IEEE Communications Magazine"
}
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Miroslav Mitev, André Barreto, Minh Thuy Pham, Maximilian Matthé, Gerhard Fettweis, Filterbank Secret Key Generation Rates in Multipath Channels, IEEE Global Communications Conference (Globecom) 2022, 2022, Download PDF

@conference{
Mitev_Globecom2022,
title = "Filterbank Secret Key Generation Rates in Multipath Channels",
author = "Miroslav Mitev, André Barreto, Minh Thuy Pham, Maximilian Matthé, Gerhard Fettweis",
year = "2022",
booktitle = "IEEE Global Communications Conference (Globecom) 2022",
publisher = "IEEE"
}
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Miroslav Mitev, Arsenia Chorti, Mahdi Shakiba-Herfeh, Martin Reed, Sajjad Baghaee, A Physical Layer, Zero-round-trip-time, Multi-factor Authentication Protocol, IEEE Access, 2022

@article{
Mitev_Access_2022,
title = "A Physical Layer, Zero-round-trip-time, Multi-factor Authentication Protocol",
author = "Miroslav Mitev, Arsenia Chorti, Mahdi Shakiba-Herfeh, Martin Reed, Sajjad Baghaee",
year = "2022",
journal = "IEEE Access"
}
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Miroslav Mitev, André Barreto, Minh Thuy Pham, Gerhard Fettweis, Secret Key Generation Rates over Frequency Selective Channels, IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC-Spring), 2022, Download PDF

@inproceedings{
Mitev_2022_VTCS,
title = "Secret Key Generation Rates over Frequency Selective Channels",
author = "Miroslav Mitev, André Barreto, Minh Thuy Pham, Gerhard Fettweis",
year = "2022",
booktitle = "IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC-Spring)",
address = "Helsinki, Finland",
month = "June"
}
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Arsenia Chorti, André Barreto, Stefan Köpsell, Marco Zoli, Marwa Chafii, Philippe Sehier, Gerhard Fettweis, Vincent Poor, Context-Aware Security for 6G Wireless: The Role of Physical Layer Security, IEEE Communications Standards Magazine, 2022

@article{
chorti2022_commstd,
title = "Context-Aware Security for 6G Wireless: The Role of Physical Layer Security",
author = "Arsenia Chorti, André Barreto, Stefan Köpsell, Marco Zoli, Marwa Chafii, Philippe Sehier, Gerhard Fettweis, Vincent Poor",
year = "2022",
journal = "IEEE Communications Standards Magazine"
}
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Minh Thuy Pham, André Barreto, Miroslav Mitev, Maximilian Matthé, Gerhard Fettweis, Secure Communications in Line-of-Sight Scenarios by Rotation-based Secret Key Generation, IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), 2022, Download PDF

@conference{
Pham2022_ICC,
title = "Secure Communications in Line-of-Sight Scenarios by Rotation-based Secret Key Generation",
author = "Minh Thuy Pham, André Barreto, Miroslav Mitev, Maximilian Matthé, Gerhard Fettweis",
year = "2022",
booktitle = "IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC)",
address = "Seoul, South Korea",
month = "MAy"
}
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Simone del Prete, Franco Fuschini, Marina Barbirolli, Marco Zoli, André Barreto, A Study on Physical Layer Security Through Ray Tracing Simulations, European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP), 2022

@inproceedings{
delPrete_2022_EUCAP,
title = "A Study on Physical Layer Security Through Ray Tracing Simulations",
author = "Simone del Prete, Franco Fuschini, Marina Barbirolli, Marco Zoli, André Barreto",
year = "2022",
booktitle = "European Conference on Antennas and Propagation (EUCAP)",
address = "Madrid, Spain",
month = "March"
}
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Alessandro Santorsola, Marco Zoli, André Barreto, Vincenzo Petruzzelli, Giovanna Calò, Effect of Radio Channel and Antennas on Physical-Layer-Security Key Exchange, IEEE Access, 2021, Download PDF

@article{
Santorsola20210,
title = "Effect of Radio Channel and Antennas on Physical-Layer-Security Key Exchange",
author = "Alessandro Santorsola, Marco Zoli, André Barreto, Vincenzo Petruzzelli, Giovanna Calò",
year = "2021",
journal = "IEEE Access",
url = "https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9628090",
doi = "10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3131616"
}
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Miroslav Mitev, Arsenia Chorti, Elena Belmega, Vincent Poor, Protecting physical layer secret key generation from active attacks, MDPI Entropy, 2021

@article{
Mitev_2021_Entropy,
title = "Protecting physical layer secret key generation from active attacks",
author = "Miroslav Mitev, Arsenia Chorti, Elena Belmega, Vincent Poor",
year = "2021",
journal = "MDPI Entropy"
}
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Marco Zoli, Miroslav Mitev, André Barreto, Gerhard Fettweis, Estimation of the Secret Key Rate in Wideband Wireless Physical-Layer-Security, International Symposium on Wireless Communication Systems (ISWCS), 2021, Download PDF

@inproceedings{
Zoli_2021_ISWCS,
title = "Estimation of the Secret Key Rate in Wideband Wireless Physical-Layer-Security",
author = "Marco Zoli, Miroslav Mitev, André Barreto, Gerhard Fettweis",
year = "2021",
booktitle = "International Symposium on Wireless Communication Systems (ISWCS)"
}
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Marco Zoli, André Barreto, Gerhard Fettweis, Investigating the eavesdropper attack in physical layer security wireless key generation: a simulation case study, IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC-Spring), 2021

@conference{
Zoli_2021_vtcs,
title = "Investigating the eavesdropper attack in physical layer security wireless key generation: a simulation case study",
author = "Marco Zoli, André Barreto, Gerhard Fettweis",
year = "2021",
booktitle = "IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC-Spring)",
address = "Helsinki, Finland",
number = "April"
}
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Saumya Dwivedi, Marco Zoli, André Barreto, Padmanava Sen, Gerhard Fettweis, Secure Joint Communications and Sensing using Chirp Modulation, 6G Wireless Summit (6G SUMMIT), 2020, Download PDF

@conference{
Dwivedi_2020_6gsummit,
title = "Secure Joint Communications and Sensing using Chirp Modulation",
author = "Saumya Dwivedi, Marco Zoli, André Barreto, Padmanava Sen, Gerhard Fettweis",
year = "2020",
booktitle = "6G Wireless Summit (6G SUMMIT)",
address = "Levi, Finland",
month = "March",
url = "https://doi.org/10.1109/6GSUMMIT49458.2020.9083884",
doi = "10.1109/6GSUMMIT49458.2020.9083884"
}
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Marco Zoli, André Barreto, Stefan Köpsell, Padmanava Sen, Gerhard Fettweis, Physical-Layer-Security Box: a concept for time-frequency channel-reciprocity key generation, EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking, 2020, Download PDF

@article{
Zoli_2020_JWCN,
title = "Physical-Layer-Security Box: a concept for time-frequency channel-reciprocity key generation",
author = "Marco Zoli, André Barreto, Stefan Köpsell, Padmanava Sen, Gerhard Fettweis",
year = "2020",
journal = "EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking",
month = "June",
number = "114",
pages = "24",
url = "https://doi.org/10.1186/s13638-020-01712-6",
doi = "10.1186/s13638-020-01712-6"
}
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