On Edge Caching with Secrecy Constraints

TL;DR

This paper explores optimal cache placement strategies in heterogeneous networks with secrecy constraints, deriving conditions for secure caching and analyzing their impact on backhaul load reduction through numerical simulations.

Contribution

It formulates the secure caching problem as a convex optimization and provides insights into how secrecy constraints affect caching performance in heterogeneous networks.

Findings

Secrecy constraints significantly increase backhaul load.

Optimal caching strategies depend on file popularity and system parameters.

Secrecy requirements impact overall network caching efficiency.

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the problem of optimal cache placement under secrecy constraints in heterogeneous networks, where small-cell base stations are equipped with caches to reduce the overall backhaul load. For two models for eavesdropping attacks, we formally derive the necessary conditions for secrecy and we derive the corresponding achievable backhaul rate. In particular we formulate the optimal caching schemes with secrecy constraints as a convex optimization problem. We then thoroughly investigate the backhaul rate performance of the heterogeneous network with secrecy constraints using numerical simulations. We compare the system performance with and without secrecy constraints and we analyze the influence of the system parameters, such as the file popularity, size of the library files and the capabilities of the small-cell base stations, on the overall performance of our optimal caching strategy. Our results highlight the considerable impact of the secrecy requirements on the overall caching performance of the network.