Secure OFDM with Peak-to-Average Power Ratio Reduction Using the Spectral Phase of Chaotic Signals

• Published in: Entropy (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 23; no. 11; p. 1380
• Main Authors: Haroun, Mohamad F., Gulliver, T. Aaron
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 21.10.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Algorithms; chaotic phase sequence; Communication; Communications systems; Cryptography; Efficiency; Frequency spectrum; Initial conditions; Internet of Things; Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing; PAPR reduction; secure OFDM communication; Security; Spectrum allocation; Spread spectrum; Symbols; Wireless networks
• ISSN: 1099-4300; 1099-4300
• DOI: 10.3390/e23111380

In this paper, a new physical layer security technique is proposed for Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communication systems. The security is achieved by modifying the OFDM symbols using the phase information of chaos in the frequency spectrum. In addition, this scheme reduces the Peak to Average Power Ratio (PAPR), which is one of the major drawbacks of OFDM. The Selected Mapping (SLM) technique for PAPR reduction is employed to exploit the random characteristics of chaotic sequences. The reduction with this algorithm is shown to be similar to that of other SLM schemes, but it has lower computational complexity and side information does not have to be sent to the receiver. The security of this technique stems from the noise like behavior of chaotic sequences and their dependence on the initial conditions of the chaotic generator (which are used as the key). Even a slight difference in the initial conditions will result in a different phase sequence, which prevents an eavesdropper from recovering the transmitted OFDM symbols.