Joint Transmit Power and Location Optimization for Covert Communication in UAV Assisted IoT Systems

Internet of Things (IoT) technology that enables the interconnection of ubiquitous end devices through wireless networks, has penetrated into every aspect of our lives. With the popularity of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), UAV can help IoT application by improving coverage, assisting in data collection, reducing equipment costs and so on. This paper focuses on the security challenges of UAV s conducting covert communication in IoT networks. It considers the exposure of the UAV in IoT, which can not only lead to communication failure but also result in potential attacks on the UAV. To address these challenges, we jointly optimize the transmit power and flying location of the UAV, aiming to maximize its communication quality while ensuring communication covertness. The final simulations illustrate the process of obtaining optimal solutions for the UAV's transmit power and flying location. Furthermore, they validate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme, which achieves maximum received SNR while satisfying the covertness constraint.