arXiv subjects

Steven W. McLaughlin

Publications and source records attributed to Steven W. McLaughlin.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2011

Strong Secrecy on the Binary Erasure Wiretap Channel Using Large-Girth LDPC Codes

For an arbitrary degree distribution pair (DDP), we construct a sequence of low-density parity-check (LDPC) code ensembles with girth growing logarithmically in block-length using Ramanujan graphs. When the DDP has minimum left degree at least three, we show using density evolution analysis that the expected bit-error probability of these ensembles, when passed through a binary erasure channel with erasure probability $ε$, decays as $\mathcal{O}(\exp(-c_1 n^{c_2}))$ with the block-length $n$ for positive constants $c_1$ and $c_2$, as long as $ε$ is lesser than the erasure threshold $ε_\mathrm{th}$ of the DDP. This guarantees that the coset coding scheme using the dual sequence provides strong secrecy over the binary erasure wiretap channel for erasure probabilities greater than $1 - ε_\mathrm{th}$.

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arXiv2009

Tandem Coding and Cryptography on Wiretap Channels: EXIT Chart Analysis

Traditional cryptography assumes an eavesdropper receives an error-free copy of the transmitted ciphertext. Wyner's wiretap channel model recognizes that at the physical layer both the intended receiver and the passive eavesdropper inevitably receive an error-prone version of the transmitted message which must be corrected prior to decryption. This paper considers the implications of using both channel and cryptographic codes under the wiretap channel model in a way that enhances the \emph{information-theoretic} security for the friendly parties by keeping the information transfer to the eavesdropper small. We consider a secret-key cryptographic system with a linear feedback shift register (LFSR)-based keystream generator and observe the mutual information between an LFSR-generated sequence and the received noise-corrupted ciphertext sequence under a known-plaintext scenario. The effectiveness of a noniterative fast correlation attack, which reduces the search time in a brute-force attack, is shown to be correlated with this mutual information. For an iterative fast correlation attack on this cryptographic system, it is shown that an EXIT chart and mutual information are very good predictors of decoding success and failure by a passive eavesdropper.

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arXiv2009

Physical-Layer Security: Combining Error Control Coding and Cryptography

In this paper we consider tandem error control coding and cryptography in the setting of the {\em wiretap channel} due to Wyner. In a typical communications system a cryptographic application is run at a layer above the physical layer and assumes the channel is error free. However, in any real application the channels for friendly users and passive eavesdroppers are not error free and Wyner's wiretap model addresses this scenario. Using this model, we show the security of a common cryptographic primitive, i.e. a keystream generator based on linear feedback shift registers (LFSR), can be strengthened by exploiting properties of the physical layer. A passive eavesdropper can be made to experience greater difficulty in cracking an LFSR-based cryptographic system insomuch that the computational complexity of discovering the secret key increases by orders of magnitude, or is altogether infeasible. This result is shown for two fast correlation attacks originally presented by Meier and Staffelbach, in the context of channel errors due to the wiretap channel model.

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arXiv2009

MDS codes on the erasure-erasure wiretap channel

This paper considers the problem of perfectly secure communication on a modified version of Wyner's wiretap channel II where both the main and wiretapper's channels have some erasures. A secret message is to be encoded into $n$ channel symbols and transmitted. The main channel is such that the legitimate receiver receives the transmitted codeword with exactly $n - ν$ erasures, where the positions of the erasures are random. Additionally, an eavesdropper (wire-tapper) is able to observe the transmitted codeword with $n - μ$ erasures in a similar fashion. This paper studies the maximum achievable information rate with perfect secrecy on this channel and gives a coding scheme using nested codes that achieves the secrecy capacity.

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arXiv2007

Quantum key distribution over 25 km with an all-fiber continuous-variable system

We report on the implementation of a reverse-reconciliated coherent-state continuous-variable quantum key distribution system, with which we generated secret keys at a rate of more than 2 kb/s over 25 km of optical fiber. Time multiplexing is used to transmit both the signal and phase reference in the same optical fiber. Our system includes all experimental aspects required for a field implementation of a quantum key distribution setup. Real-time reverse reconciliation is achieved by using fast and efficient LDPC error correcting codes.

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arXiv2007

The Design of Efficiently-Encodable Rate-Compatible LDPC Codes

We present a new class of irregular low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes for moderate block lengths (up to a few thousand bits) that are well-suited for rate-compatible puncturing. The proposed codes show good performance under puncturing over a wide range of rates and are suitable for usage in incremental redundancy hybrid-automatic repeat request (ARQ) systems. In addition, these codes are linear-time encodable with simple shift-register circuits. For a block length of 1200 bits the codes outperform optimized irregular LDPC codes and extended irregular repeat-accumulate (eIRA) codes for all puncturing rates 0.6~0.9 (base code performance is almost the same) and are particularly good at high puncturing rates where good puncturing performance has been previously difficult to achieve.

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arXiv2006

Wireless Information-Theoretic Security - Part II: Practical Implementation

In Part I of this two-part paper on confidential communication over wireless channels, we studied the fundamental security limits of quasi-static fading channels from the point of view of outage secrecy capacity with perfect and imperfect channel state information. In Part II, we develop a practical secret key agreement protocol for Gaussian and quasi-static fading wiretap channels. The protocol uses a four-step procedure to secure communications: establish common randomness via an opportunistic transmission, perform message reconciliation, establish a common key via privacy amplification, and use of the key. We introduce a new reconciliation procedure that uses multilevel coding and optimized low density parity check codes which in some cases comes close to achieving the secrecy capacity limits established in Part I. Finally, we develop new metrics for assessing average secure key generation rates and show that our protocol is effective in secure key renewal.

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arXiv2006

Wireless Information-Theoretic Security - Part I: Theoretical Aspects

In this two-part paper, we consider the transmission of confidential data over wireless wiretap channels. The first part presents an information-theoretic problem formulation in which two legitimate partners communicate over a quasi-static fading channel and an eavesdropper observes their transmissions through another independent quasi-static fading channel. We define the secrecy capacity in terms of outage probability and provide a complete characterization of the maximum transmission rate at which the eavesdropper is unable to decode any information. In sharp contrast with known results for Gaussian wiretap channels (without feedback), our contribution shows that in the presence of fading information-theoretic security is achievable even when the eavesdropper has a better average signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) than the legitimate receiver - fading thus turns out to be a friend and not a foe. The issue of imperfect channel state information is also addressed. Practical schemes for wireless information-theoretic security are presented in Part II, which in some cases comes close to the secrecy capacity limits given in this paper.

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arXiv2005

Efficient Reconciliation of Correlated Continuous Random Variables using LDPC Codes

This paper investigates an efficient and practical information reconciliation method in the case where two parties have access to correlated continuous random variables. We show that reconciliation is a special case of channel coding and that existing coded modulation techniques can be adapted for reconciliation. We describe an explicit reconciliation method based on LDPC codes in the case of correlated Gaussian variables. We believe that the proposed method can improve the efficiency of quantum key distribution protocols based on continuous-spectrum quantum states.

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arXiv2004

Capacity Analysis for Continuous Alphabet Channels with Side Information, Part II: MIMO Channels

In this part, we consider the capacity analysis for wireless mobile systems with multiple antenna architectures. We apply the results of the first part to a commonly known baseband, discrete-time multiple antenna system where both the transmitter and receiver know the channel's statistical law. We analyze the capacity for additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channels, fading channels with full channel state information (CSI) at the receiver, fading channels with no CSI, and fading channels with partial CSI at the receiver. For each type of channels, we study the capacity value as well as issues such as the existence, uniqueness, and characterization of the capacity-achieving measures for different types of moment constraints. The results are applicable to both Rayleigh and Rician fading channels in the presence of arbitrary line-of-sight and correlation profiles.

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arXiv2004

Capacity Analysis for Continuous Alphabet Channels with Side Information, Part I: A General Framework

Capacity analysis for channels with side information at the receiver has been an active area of interest. This problem is well investigated for the case of finite alphabet channels. However, the results are not easily generalizable to the case of continuous alphabet channels due to analytic difficulties inherent with continuous alphabets. In the first part of this two-part paper, we address an analytical framework for capacity analysis of continuous alphabet channels with side information at the receiver. For this purpose, we establish novel necessary and sufficient conditions for weak* continuity and strict concavity of the mutual information. These conditions are used in investigating the existence and uniqueness of the capacity-achieving measures. Furthermore, we derive necessary and sufficient conditions that characterize the capacity value and the capacity-achieving measure for continuous alphabet channels with side information at the receiver.

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arXiv2004

Capacity Achieving Code Constructions for Two Classes of (d,k) Constraints

In this paper, we present two low complexity algorithms that achieve capacity for the noiseless (d,k) constrained channel when k=2d+1, or when k-d+1 is not prime. The first algorithm, called symbol sliding, is a generalized version of the bit flipping algorithm introduced by Aviran et al. [1]. In addition to achieving capacity for (d,2d+1) constraints, it comes close to capacity in other cases. The second algorithm is based on interleaving, and is a generalized version of the bit stuffing algorithm introduced by Bender and Wolf [2]. This method uses fewer than k-d biased bit streams to achieve capacity for (d,k) constraints with k-d+1 not prime. In particular, the encoder for (d,d+2^m-1) constraints, 1\le m<\infty, requires only m biased bit streams.

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