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Feasibility of short blocklength Reed-Muller codes for physical layer security in real environment

Md Munibun Billah, Tyler Sweat, Willie K. Harrison

TL;DR

The paper addresses securing wireless transmissions at the physical layer in realistic indoor environments using short-blocklength Reed-Muller coset codes. It implements a coset coding scheme on software-defined radios, leveraging RM structure to map messages to distinct cosets while injecting intra-coset randomness, and uses Mutual Information Neural Estimation to quantify information leakage $I(M;Z^n)$. Experimental results show that RM codes can reduce information leakage relative to uncoded transmissions and produce measurable secrecy regions via equivocation $E=H(M|Z^n)$, even under real-world channel impairments; RM$(4,4)$ in particular approaches the expected mutual information of 8 bits, consistent with its capacity in idealized settings. The study demonstrates the practicality of coset-based physical-layer security for low-latency, short-blocklength scenarios and highlights the potential for deploying RM codes in real environments, with MINE providing a flexible leakage assessment framework.

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the application of Reed-Muller (RM) codes for Physical-layer security in a real world wiretap channel scenario. Utilizing software-defined radios (SDRs) in a real indoor environment, we implement a coset coding scheme that leverages the hierarchical structure of RM codes to secure data transmission. The generator matrix of the RM code is used to partition codewords into cosets in the usual way, where each message corresponds to a unique coset, and auxiliary bits select specific codewords within each coset. This approach enables the legitimate receiver (Bob) can decode the transmitted message with minimal information leakage to eavesdropper (Eve) thus protecting the confidentiality of the communication with the help of coset structure. Mutual information neural estimation (MINE) is used to quantify information leakage and validate the effectiveness of the scheme. Experimental results indicate that RM codes can achieve robust security even in practical environments affected by real-world channel impairments. These findings demonstrate the potential of RM codes as an efficient solution for physical-layer security, particularly for applications that require low latency and short blocklengths.

Feasibility of short blocklength Reed-Muller codes for physical layer security in real environment

TL;DR

The paper addresses securing wireless transmissions at the physical layer in realistic indoor environments using short-blocklength Reed-Muller coset codes. It implements a coset coding scheme on software-defined radios, leveraging RM structure to map messages to distinct cosets while injecting intra-coset randomness, and uses Mutual Information Neural Estimation to quantify information leakage . Experimental results show that RM codes can reduce information leakage relative to uncoded transmissions and produce measurable secrecy regions via equivocation , even under real-world channel impairments; RM in particular approaches the expected mutual information of 8 bits, consistent with its capacity in idealized settings. The study demonstrates the practicality of coset-based physical-layer security for low-latency, short-blocklength scenarios and highlights the potential for deploying RM codes in real environments, with MINE providing a flexible leakage assessment framework.

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the application of Reed-Muller (RM) codes for Physical-layer security in a real world wiretap channel scenario. Utilizing software-defined radios (SDRs) in a real indoor environment, we implement a coset coding scheme that leverages the hierarchical structure of RM codes to secure data transmission. The generator matrix of the RM code is used to partition codewords into cosets in the usual way, where each message corresponds to a unique coset, and auxiliary bits select specific codewords within each coset. This approach enables the legitimate receiver (Bob) can decode the transmitted message with minimal information leakage to eavesdropper (Eve) thus protecting the confidentiality of the communication with the help of coset structure. Mutual information neural estimation (MINE) is used to quantify information leakage and validate the effectiveness of the scheme. Experimental results indicate that RM codes can achieve robust security even in practical environments affected by real-world channel impairments. These findings demonstrate the potential of RM codes as an efficient solution for physical-layer security, particularly for applications that require low latency and short blocklengths.
Paper Structure (21 sections, 21 equations, 11 figures, 2 tables)

This paper contains 21 sections, 21 equations, 11 figures, 2 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. I ntroduction
  2. W iretap C ode
  3. Secrecy Metric
  4. Different Wiretap Coding
  5. C oset C oding
  6. Coset Coding: Encoder and Decoder
  7. Reed Muller Code
  8. Coset Coding with Reed-Muller Codes
  9. Reed-Muller Code Structure and Generator Matrix
  10. M utual I nformation N eural E stimator
  11. E quivocation C alculation
  12. E xperimental S etup
  13. Environment
  14. Channel Model
  15. SDR Configuration and Setup
  16. ...and 6 more sections

Figures (11)

  • Figure 1: The wiretap channel.
  • Figure 2: Mutual Information Neural Estimator.
  • Figure 3: Transmitter Block Diagram with Reed-Muller Wiretap Coding
  • Figure 4: Receiver block diagram.
  • Figure 5: Output of MINE showing mutual information between confidential message and Eaves received message for RM(4,4) coset style code in the presence of no noise.
  • ...and 6 more figures