Secure Single-Input-Multiple-Output Media-Based Modulation

The media-based modulation (MBM) system, which varies its channel state by controlling the on/off status of the radio frequency (RF) mirrors, and embeds additional information bits into the mirror activation pattern, is capable of achieving significant throughput and desirable bit-error-rate (BER) performance. Hence, it has attracted increasing attention from researchers of wireless communication community. In this paper1, the information secrecy issue for MBM is investigated, and a secure single-input-multiple-output MBM (SIMO-MBM) system is proposed utilizing physical-layer security techniques. By considering the time-division duplexing (TDD) mode with channel reciprocity property, the legitimate channel state information (CSI) is applied to secure the data transmission of SIMO-MBM. More specifically, on one hand, adaptive phase rotation is imposed on the transmitted signals, where the rotation angle is determined by the phase of legitimate CSI; on the other hand, the mapping rule between the mirror activation pattern and binary bits is changed according to the amplitude of legitimate CSI. The BER performance of the eavesdropper is investigated via theoretical derivations, and the system secrecy mutual information is also derived, based on which the optimal design of the adaptive phase rotation strategy is provided. Theoretical and simulative results demonstrate that the proposed secure SIMO-MBM system is capable of enhancing the data confidentiality whilst keeping reliable data transmission.