Constellation Design for Non-Coherent Fast-Forward Relays to Mitigate Full-Duplex Jamming Attacks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel non-coherent fast-forward relaying scheme with optimized constellation design to enable reliable low-latency communication in fast-fading channels under sophisticated full-duplex jamming attacks, improving resilience and evasion.

Contribution

It proposes a new constellation design framework for non-coherent fast-forward relaying that enhances anti-jamming capabilities in adversarial wireless environments.

Findings

Proposed constellations achieve near-optimal error performance.

The scheme effectively evades detection by full-duplex jammers.

Theoretical analysis supports the optimization strategies.

Abstract

With potential applications to short-packet communication, we address communication of low-latency messages in fast-fading channels under the presence of a reactive jammer. Unlike a traditional jammer, we assume a full-duplex (FD) jammer capable of detecting pre-existing countermeasures and subsequently changing the target frequency band. To facilitate reliable communication amidst a strong adversary, we propose non-coherent fast-forward full-duplex relaying scheme wherein the victim uses a helper in its vicinity to fast-forward its messages to the base station, in addition to ensuring that the countermeasures are undetected by the FD adversary. Towards designing the constellations for the proposed scheme, we identify that existing non-coherent constellation for fast-fading channels are not applicable owing to the cooperative nature of the fast-forward scheme. As a result, we formulate an optimization problem of designing the non-coherent constellations at the victim and the helper such that the symbol-error-probability at the base station is minimized. We theoretically analyze the optimization problem and propose several strategies to compute near-optimal constellations based on the helper's data-rate and fast-forwarding abilities. We show that the proposed constellations provide near-optimal error performance and help the victim evade jamming. Finally, we also prove the scheme's efficacy in deceiving the countermeasure detectors at the jammer.