Secure Transmission via Joint Precoding Optimization for Downlink MISO NOMA

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is a prospective technology for radio resource constrained future mobile networks. However, NOMA users far from a base station (BS) tend to be more susceptible to eavesdropping because they are allocated more transmit power. In this paper, we aim to jointly optimize the precoding vectors at the BS to ensure the legitimate security in a downlink multiple-input single-output (MISO) NOMA network. When the eavesdropping channel state information (CSI) is available at the BS, we can maximize the sum secrecy rate by joint precoding optimization. Owing to its non-convexity, the problem is converted into a convex one, which is solved by a second-order-cone-programming-based iterative algorithm. When the CSI of the eavesdropping channel is not available, we first consider the case that the secure user is not the farthest from the BS, and the transmit power of the farther users is maximized via joint precoding optimization to guarantee its security. Then, we consider the case when the farthest user from the BS requires secure transmission, and the modified successive interference cancellation order and joint precoding optimization can be adopted to ensure its security. A similar method can be exploited to solve the two non-convex problems when the CSI is unknown. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed schemes can improve the security performance for MISO NOMA systems effectively, with and without eavesdropping CSI.