Joint Secrecy and Covert Communication (JSACC): An Enhanced Physical Layer Security Approach

TL;DR

This paper introduces JSACC, a physical layer security method that dynamically switches between secrecy and covert modes, utilizing RIS to enhance range and analyzing system performance through theoretical and simulation results.

Contribution

The paper proposes JSACC, a novel approach combining secrecy and covert communication with RIS, providing closed-form performance metrics and asymptotic analysis.

Findings

JSACC outperforms conventional secrecy communication systems.

Diversity order depends on Nakagami fading and RIS elements.

High-SNR analysis reveals system robustness.

Abstract

In this paper, we propose an enhanced physical layer security approach, named joint secrecy and covert communication (JSACC), which aims to improve the performance of physical layer security (PLS). The JSACC system can dynamically switch between secrecy mode and covert mode according to the channel difference between legitimate and illegitimate receivers. We further leverage reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) to extend the communication range. For each scenario, we derive the closed-form expressions for the outage probability (OP) and ergodic rate (ER). To further understand system performance, we derive asymptotic approximations in the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) regime to obtain the diversity order and high-SNR slope. We demonstrate that the diversity order of the JSACC depends on Nakagami fading parameters and the RIS reflecting element number. Simulation results are consistent with our theoretical analysis and reveal the superiority of the JSACC system over the conventional secrecy communication (SC) system.