OFDM-Subcarrier Index Selection for Enhancing Security and Reliability of 5G URLLC Services

An efficient physical layer security technique, referred to as OFDM with subcarrier index selection (OFDM-SIS), is proposed for safeguarding the transmission of OFDM-based waveforms against eavesdropping in 5G and beyond wireless networks. This is achieved by developing a joint optimal subcarrier index selection (SIS) and adaptive interleaving (AI) design, which enables providing two levels (sources) of security in time division duplexing (TDD) mode: one is generated by the optimal selection of the subcarrier indices that can maximize the signal-to-noise ratio at only the legitimate receiver, while the other is produced by the AI performed based on the legitimate user's channel that is different from that of the eavesdropper. The proposed scheme not only provides a remarkable secrecy gap, but also enhances the reliability performance of the legitimate user compared with the standard OFDM scheme. Particularly, a gain of 5-10 dB is observed at a bit error rate value of 10
^-3
compared with standard OFDM as a result of using the adaptive channel-based subcarrier selection mechanism. Moreover, the proposed technique saves power, considers no knowledge of the eavesdropper's channel, and provides secrecy even in the worst security scenario, where the eavesdropper can know the channel of the legitimate link when an explicit channel feedback is used as is the case in frequency division duplexing systems. This is achieved while maintaining low complexity and high reliability at the legitimate user, making the proposed scheme a harmonious candidate technique for secure 5G ultra reliable and low latency communications (URLLC) services.