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Physical layer security in MIMO power line communication networks

University of British Columbia

It has been well established that multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission using multiple conductors can improve the data rate of power line communication (PLC) systems. In this thesis, we investigate whether the presence of multiple conductors could also facilitate the communication of confidential messages by means of physical layer security methods. In particular, this thesis focuses on the secrecy capacity of MIMO PLC. Numerical experiments show that multi-conductor PLC networks can enable a more secure communication compared to the single conductor case. On the other hand, we demonstrate that the keyhole property of PLC channels generally diminishes the secure communication capability compared to what would be achieved in a similar wireless communications setting. Furthermore, we consider the cases of unknown and partially known channel state information (CSI) about the eavesdropper channel. For this purpose, we provide deterministic channel uncertainty model parameters for PLC networks via the bottom-up channel modelling method. Numerical results show how imperfect CSI has a negative impact on secure communication, and enable us to analyze the tradeoff between choosing different transmission strategies that correspond to unknown CSI and partially known CSI.

Text

2014-08-28

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/50241

Electrical and Computer Engineering

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/