Secure OFDM-UWB communication based on phase hopping
Alessandro Neri, Daniele Blasi, Patrizio Campisi · Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2007
In this paper we propose an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing Ultra Wide Band (OFDM-UWB) system that introduces encryption, mutual authentication, and data integrity functions, at the physical layer, without impairing spectral efficiency. Encryption is performed by rotating the constellation employed in each band by means of a pseudorandom phase-hopping sequence. Authentication and data integrity, based on encrypted-hash, are directly coupled with Forward Error Correction (FEC). Dependence of the phase hopping sequence on the transmitted message deny the use of the phase hopping obtained by means of known and chosen plaintext attacks for decryption of further messages. Moreover, since phase hopping generation keys change very rapidly they are also difficultly detectable from a hypothetic man in the middle. Computer simulations confirm the superior performance, even in terms of BER, to a standard PSKOFDM system, due to the FEC capabilities of encrypted hash.