Utilizing RF Fingerprints in Covert Communications in a Continuous Time Channel in the Presence of a Jammer

Presenter

Jessica Ann Durkee

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Dennis Goeckel, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 2, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A66, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 4 (A61-A80) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

Covert communication is the exchange of information between a transmitter and receiver without a third-party listener detecting the transmitted signal. This project will consider a system consisting of a transmitter (Alice), a receiver (Bob), an adversary warden (Willie), and a jammer. Alice will attempt to covertly transmit a signal to Bob in the presence of noise and interference produced by the jammer. Prior research has focused on a model of this situation using a discrete-time model. A continuous-time model provides features not present in the discrete-time model that may be exploited by Willie to tell whether Alice is transmitting or not. Some of these features have already been considered in prior work from our UMass research group. Results of this prior work showed: (i) schemes derived from the discrete-time model are often ineffective; (ii) a scheme can be designed that allows Alice to transmit O(n) bits in n channels in the presence of a jammer in a continuous-time model if Alice’s power is varied over a smaller range than the power of the jammer.

This previous work is predicated on the inability of Willie to tell a transmission from Alice apart from a transmission from the jammer, but different transmitters might be detected by noting differences in the “signatures”, or “RF fingerprint”, of the waveforms caused by transmitter non-idealities. We seek to determine whether in these conditions described and in continuous time Willie will be able to detect Alice’s presence in the system by utilizing RF Fingerprinting.

Keywords

Covert Communication, Jamming, Power Threshold Testing, AWGN Channel, RF Fingerprinting

Research Area

Engineering

SIMILAR ABSTRACTS (BY KEYWORD)