Optimal Independence-Checking Coding For Secure Uplink Training in Large-Scale MISO-OFDM Systems

TL;DR

This paper introduces an independence-checking coding scheme for secure uplink training in large-scale MISO-OFDM systems, enhancing pilot security and reliability against attacks by encoding and decoding subcarrier activation patterns.

Contribution

It develops an optimal independence-checking coding method that guarantees reliable pilot identification and channel estimation, even under interference and attack scenarios.

Findings

Achieves reliable pilot identification despite interference

Guarantees zero identification error probability with continuous AoA distribution

Provides a closed-form expression for IEP in discrete AoA cases

Abstract

Due to the publicly-known deterministic character- istic of pilot tones, pilot-aware attack, by jamming, nulling and spoofing pilot tones, can significantly paralyze the uplink channel training in large-scale MISO-OFDM systems. To solve this, we in this paper develop an independence-checking coding based (ICCB) uplink training architecture for one-ring scattering scenarios allowing for uniform linear arrays (ULA) deployment. Here, we not only insert randomized pilots on subcarriers for channel impulse response (CIR) estimation, but also diversify and encode subcarrier activation patterns (SAPs) to convey those pilots simultaneously. The coded SAPs, though interfered by arbitrary unknown SAPs in wireless environment, are qualified to be reliably identified and decoded into the original pilots by checking the hidden channel independence existing in subcarri- ers. Specifically, an independence-checking coding (ICC) theory is formulated to support the encoding/decoding process in this architecture. The optimal ICC code is further developed for guaranteeing a well-imposed estimation of CIR while maximizing the code rate. Based on this code, the identification error probability (IEP) is characterized to evaluate the reliability of this architecture. Interestingly, we discover the principle of IEP reduction by exploiting the array spatial correlation, and prove that zero-IEP, i.e., perfect reliability, can be guaranteed under continuously-distributed mean angle of arrival (AoA). Besides this, a novel closed form of IEP expression is derived in discretely- distributed case. Simulation results finally verify the effectiveness of the proposed architecture.