Method for enhancing security in visible light communication systems

Abstract

It is disclosed a method for enhancing security in visible light communication system, by employing constellation decomposition to provide physical layer security. By decomposing and transmitting signal constellations across multiple emitter units (2), that is, across multiple light sources, whose relative positions to a legitimate receiver unit (3) are known, the power and phase delay of each signal constellation are adjusted by a controller unit (1) to ensure that only legitimate receivers (3) are able to accurately reconstruct the transmitted data, thus preventing potential eavesdroppers.

Description

DESCRIPTIONMETHOD FOR ENHANCING SECURITY IN VISIBLE LIGHT COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS THROUGH CONSTELLATION DECOMPOSITIONTECHINCAL FIELDThe present application pertains to the field of wireless communication systems, more particularly to Light Fidelity (LiFi) communication system. Even more particularly, the present application relates to methods for enhancing physical layer security in visible light communication environments.PRIOR ARTVisible Light Communications (VLC) use visible light, typically transmitted by Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), to transmit data wirelessly through intense modulation, and a photodiode detects the signal at a receiver using the direct detection principle. A VLC architecture is designed as a direct point-to-point data communication method, essentially as a cable replacement, and offers a wide band free spectrum, which means it is not subject to the spectrum limitations of traditional radio frequencies. This free spectrum is particularly useful in a scenario where the demand for wireless communications is increasing exponentially. Furthermore, as a VLC system typically use LEDs for transmitting data, it is possible to reduce installation and operational costs. In fact, LEDs are components already widely used, for example in indoor environments, for lighting purposes, making them a low-cost and easily implementable solution for communication systems.VLC communication channels are mainly line-of-sight (LOS) and therefore offer some degree of physical layer security (PLS). In this context, an example of a VLC system employing spatial multiplexing is described in TAN YINZHOU et al1. However, an eavesdropper, i.e., an unintended receiver, located in the same illuminated area can potentially intercept communications and therefore additional PLS mechanisms are needed. In fact, unlike RF signals which can be more easily transmitted, VLC systems use light that naturally spreads and can be more challenging to contain to a specific area,therefore PLS is a fundamental safeguard to ensure that only legitimate receiver can receive the transmitted signal.In recent years, to provide security in VLC systems, algorithms have been developed at higher protocol layers, which, despite their sophistication, are increasingly vulnerable to advanced decryption techniques. Threats such as eavesdropping and unauthorized data interception underscore the importance of developing security in PLS as a complement to cryptography. This concept takes advantage of the imperfections of the transmission channels, such as their random nature, to ensure secure communications.The present solution intends to innovatively overcome such issues.SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSUREIt is an object of the present disclosure, a method for enhancing security in visible light communication system, by employing constellation decomposition to provide PLS in VLC environments. By decomposing and transmitting signal constellations across multiple emitter units, that is, across multiple light sources, whose relative positions to a legitimate receiver unit are known, the power and phase delay of each signal constellation are adjusted to ensure that only legitimate receivers are able to accurately reconstruct the transmitted data, thus preventing potential eavesdroppers.DESCRIPTION OF FIGURESFigure 1 is a representation of a block diagram of a VLC system that implements method disclosed. Said system may be comprised by two emitter units and one legitimate receiver unit. The reference signs represent:1 - controller unit;2 - emitter unit;3 - legitimate receiver unit;sn- 16-QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) constellation signal of the original data signal to be transmitted;s1- first sub-constellation signal constituted by 4-bits QPSK (Quadrature Phase Shift Keying) signals, to be transmitted by a first emitter unit; s2- second sub-constellation signal constituted by 4-bits QPSK signals, to be transmitted by a second emitter unit;snr- 16-QAM constellation signal reconstructed at the legitimate receiver unit, by summing the two sub-constellations, s1and s2.In connection with the embodiment of a VLC system illustrated by Figure 1, Figure 2 demonstrates the decomposition of a 16-QAM constellation into BPSK (Binary Phase Shift Keying) components using Gray Coding, and Figure 3 illustrates two examples of symbol constellation decomposition considering that a symbol of the 16-QAM constellation is represented by a bit sequence S =

[0000] e S2=

[0001] , and the respective reconstructed signal constellation,at the legitimate receiver unit.In Figure 4 it is illustrated the 16-QAM constellation diagram that represents all possible symbols, where the 16-QAM signal is obtained by summing two 4-bits QPSK signals s1and s2, where s , Vi, are the QPSK components of symbol snof the original M-QAM constellation.In Figure 5 it is illustrated a decomposition of 16-QAM constellation from 2 QPSK sub-constellations, to reflect the influence of the transmission path attenuation that each signal s1, s2may suffer and the impact on the constellation snr. Figure 5a) illustrates the received sub-constellation s1, Figure 5b) illustrates the received subconstellation s2, and Figure 5c) illustrates the received total sub-constellations, wherein the crosses indicate the ideal constellation points while the dots indicate the actual received constellation points.DETAILED DESCRIPTIONThe more general configurations of the present disclosure are described in the Summary of the disclosure. Such configurations are detailed below in accordancewith other advantageous and / or preferred embodiments of implementation of the present disclosure.It is disclosed a method for transmitting data using visible light communication, that enhances security by employing constellation decomposition.The method is to be implemented by a Visible Light Communication (VLC) system that includes a plurality of emitter units (2), such as LEDs, installed within a communication environment, each capable of emitting data-encoded visible light signals to be received by at least a legitimate receiver unit (3). At least a controller unit (1) is configured to coordinate the operation of the emitter units (2), managing power levels and timing of signals to be transmitted by each emitter unit (2), in order to optimize the data transmission and security.In fact, the core concept of the present disclosure is the use of constellation decomposition to enhance security in LiFi communication systems, specifically within VLC. More particularly, it is proposed a method for transmitting data that employs constellation decomposition by breaking down complex signal constellations of a data signal to be transmitted via VLC channels, such as M-Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) into simpler binary components, which are then mapped to Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) or similar modulation formats, such as Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), suitable for transmission via individual emitter units (2).In this context, the transmission process involves distributing these decomposed signal components among the plurality of emitter units (2), each emitter unit (2) being positioned strategically at a predefined location, to cover an intended communication space, and the method imposes a dynamic adjustment of power and phase parameters of each decomposed signal component to ensure that they combine coherently only at a legitimate receiver's location.For that purpose, at least one controller unit (1) is operatively coupled to the plurality of emitter units (2), and may be configured to continuously monitor the communication environment and adjust the emitter units' parameters based on at least the respective locations and the legitimate receiver's location. The controller unit (1)may also adjust the emitter units' parameters based on environmental conditions likely to interfere with the VLC channel and to mitigate the impact of obstacles, ensuring robust and secure data transmission.Therefore, the method of the present disclosure implements a security mechanism that provides PLS, adding additional layers of protection beyond traditional cryptographic methods. More particularly, constellation decomposition and distribution of each sub-constellation among multiple emitter units (2) create an intentional disparity in signal reception for unintended or unauthorized receiver units (the nonlegitimate receivers), leading to a distorted constellation and higher error rates. This approach increases the Bit Error Rate (BER) for non-legitimate receivers, effectively preventing them from accurately decoding the transmitted data signal, and ensuring that only the legitimate receiver unit (3) is able to correctly combine the signal components to form the original data signal.In fact, when the signal components are transmitted from the plurality of emitter units (2) located at different locations, due to the different path attenuations and different delays, the received signal at a non-legitimate receiver, does not correspond to the ideal constellation, and therefore the BER will be degraded. Thus, the proposed method uses these effects to provide PLS.According to the method of the present disclosure, the data stream signal may be split into Nusub-streams that are transmitted in parallel thanks to the spatial multiplexing capabilities of the emitter units (2) employed for beamforming purposes (typically Nu< Nb, where Nbis the number of emitter units (2)). The data bits associated to each of the Nusub-streams are mapped into a given constellation (e.g., a QAM constellation) characterized by the ordered set G = {.$0,.$!, ...where M is the number of constellation symbols, following the rule:withdenoting the binary representation of nth symbol, with = log2(M) bits. The constellations symbols are mapped in Nmpolarcomponents, that are the result of the decomposition of signal snin M components given by:with Z / z-2,i ■■■ 7i, t 7o,i) denoting the binary representation of i, b^ = (— l) n}denoting the polar representation of the bitdenoting the ithpolar component of snand Nmis the number of non-zero gtcoefficients of the referred decomposition equation.Next each of the Nmpolar components may be modulated as a BPSK signal, being each of these NmBPSK signals a serial representation of an Offset quadrature phase-shift keying (OQPSK) signal. Therefore, as can be seen from the Eq.l, each BPSK component transmitted by an emitter unit (2) is the result of a combination of several bits. Thus, even assuming an attack in which a non-legitimate receiver unit tries to focus on the light emitted by an emitter unit (2) in order to infer the BPSK sequence sent and, consequently, the value of the bit combination associated with that emitter unit (2), the mapping assigned to each emitter unit (2) may change with each new symbol emitted. In this way, the non-legitimate receiver unit would hardly be able to extract any information, especially for high-order decompositions. This continuous exchange, which can happen with each new symbol, is transparent to the legitimate receiver unit (3), because what it receives is the perfect combination of the different components, which only depends on their spatial location and on the location of the emitter units (2).In addition, the signals may be separately amplified by Nmnonlinear amplifiers before being transmitted by Nmx Nbemitter units (2). Spatial multiplexingeffects combined with beamforming gains are achieved since each of these Nmsignals will be transmitted by Nbemitter units (2), with appropriate phase shifts to provide directive beams.Figure 1 discloses an embodiment of a VLC system adapted to implement the method of the present disclosure. It is comprised by two emitter units (2) and one legitimate receiver unit (3), and it incorporates a controller unit (1) capable of identifying a legitimate receiver's location and adjusting the signal power of the emitter units (2) as well as the delay phase between the transmissions of the constellation components from each emitter unit (2), to implement the PLS scheme. More particularly, considering that the original data signal to be transmitted is represented by a 16-QAM constellation, Figure 2 illustrates a particular decomposition of said 16-QAM constellation into BPSK components, considering that, for 16-QAM, the bits to be transmitted may be grouped in groups of 4 bits, [b1 / ?2 / ?3 / ?4], and that it may be decomposed into 2 QPSK subconstellations symbols, s1,^2, as follows:s1= 2 x b1— 2j x b3s2= — 1 x b1x b2+ j x b3x b4.For example, as illustrated in Figure 3, the bit sequence [0 0 0 0] of the original data signal to be transmitted may corresponds to:s1= -2 + 2js2= -1 + j.And the sum of the two sub-constellations at the legitimate receiver unit (3) is:sj°°00]= s1+ s2= -3 + 3j,The constellation diagram that represents all possible symbols is represented in Figure 4, where the 16-QAM signal is obtained by summing the two 4-bits QPSK signals s1and s2, where s , Vi, are the QPSK components of symbol snof the original M-QAM constellation.With this context, the PLS scheme may work as follows: for the legitimate receiver unit (3), located at any position in the communication environment, the different path attenuations may be compensated by adjusting the signal power transmitted by the emitter units (2) and the relative transmission delay of the two subconstellation components, s1and s2, resulting from the decomposition of a 16-QAM constellation representing the modulated original signal to be transmitted. More particularly, the first emitter unit (2) transmits the 4-bits QPSK signal, s1, and the second emitter unit (2) transmits the 4-bits QPSK signal, s2. The objective is for the legitimate receiver unit (3) to receive an ideal constellation signal, snr, resulting from the sum of the sub-constellation s1and s2, while any other non-legitimate receiver, located at a different position receives a distorted signal constellation. In fact, these different signal components, s1and s2, transmitted from emitter units (2) positioned at various locations within the communication environment, creates a unique transmission pattern that can only be correctly decoded at the specific legitimate receiver's location, where these components combine coherently. This multi-emitter unit setup significantly complicates an eavesdropper's task, as it would need to capture and correctly reassemble signals from all emitter units (2).Considering a practical implementation scenario where the 4-bits QPSK signals s1and s2are transmitted using two emitter units (2) located in distinct locations, the transmission path attenuation from both emitter units (2) to a legitimate receiver unit (3) is different and therefore the signals s1and s2will suffer different attenuation. In this situation, the signal constellation reaching a non-legitimate receiver is distorted, as illustrated in Figure 5, where the attenuation of the s1signal component is considered twice as the attenuation of the s2signal component. As can be seen from figure 5.c), due to the different path attenuation the received constellation is not the ideal, in terms of system performance this effect will be translated to an increase of Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) and consequently an increase in BER.The legitimate receiver unit (3) may estimate the VLC channel of each of emitter unit (2), h1>, ..., hNm, using, for example, pilots sent using time-division multiplexing, from each emitter unit (2), which communicates via an uplink channel to the controller unit (1) that commands the operation of the emitter units (2); or the controller unit (1) has the legitimate receiver's spatial location information, which allows it to estimate, using state-of-the-art methodologies, the line-of-sight channel from each emitter unit (2) to the legitimate receiver unit (3). Note that a non-legitimate receiver will have a completely different VLC channel hlt, ..., hNm.Therefore, by transmitting each component via different emitter units (2), the received signal at the legitimate receiver unit (3), for the example of BPSK components is:where K is a real constant that translates the total gain of the VLC channel resulting from the combination of the various individual channels.In order to guarantee the coherent combination for the legitimate receiver unit (3), each of the transmitting emitter units (2) may apply a precoding factor, an, for example an= Kh^ / I hn|A2, such thatThis constitutes a second layer of security because a non-legitimate receiver, due to its different location, receivesAs hnhnand the final signal results from a combination of multiple components with different distortions, the non-legitimate receiver receives a severely degraded signal, which makes it impossible to extract the information.EMBODIMENTSIn a preferred embodiment of the method for transmitting data using visible light communication of the present disclosure, it is comprised by the following steps:- performing, by a controller unit (1), a constellation decomposition on an original data signal, by decomposing complex constellation symbols of an M-ary constellation, sn, into binary components, thereby defining n sub-constellation components, s1, ... , sn; wherein n >2;- Encoding, by each of n emitter units (2), a respective sub-constellation component, sl, wherein i = 1,into a visible light data signal;- Programming, by the controller unit (1), the signal power and relative transmission delay for each visible light data signal according to the location of the respective emitter unit (2) relative to a legitimate receiver unit (3);- Transmitting, by each emitter unit (2), the encoded visible light data signal; - Receiving, by at least one legitimate receiver unit (3), the n visible light data signals transmitted from the n emitter units (2);- Summing, by the legitimate receiver unit (3), the sub-constellations s1to sn, contained in the n visible light data signals received, thereby reconstructing the original data signal, snr, wherein snr= sn.More particularly, the at least one controller unit (1) employs a constellation decomposition on an original data signal to be transmitted, by processing the constellation symbols of a M-ary constellation, sn, representing the original data signal to be transmitted, in order to decompose said symbols into binary componentsthat define n sub-constellation components, sl, wherein n is equal or greater than 2,The number of emitter units (2), n, is related with the number of subconstellation components decomposed by the controller unit (1). In particular, the number of sub-constellation components defines the number of emitter units (2) that a VLC system implementing the proposed method shall have. Each emitter unit (1), in addition to a transmission mechanism that may be implemented through LED elements, it is able to encode the respective sub-constellation component, sl, into a visible light data signal suitable for transmission over a visible light communication channel to at least one legitimate receiver (3).A legitimate receiver unit (3), as opposed to a non-legitimate receiver, is considered to be the desired receiver of the n visible light signals, each one incorporating a specific sub-constellation, sl, transmitted by the n emitter units (2). For that purpose, the legitimate receiver unit (3) is provided with means for receiving the n visible light data signals transmitted by the n emitter units and it is able to sum said n visible light data signals, in particular its respective sub-constellation components, s1to sn, in order to reconstruct the M-ary constellation symbols of the original data signal, snr, wherein snr= sn.The method of the present disclosure employs a PSL scheme by providing the controller unit (1) with the ability to configure the signal power and the relative transmission delay of each visible light data signals transmitted by the n emitter units (2), according to the location of the respective emitter units (2) relative to the location of the legitimate receiver unit (3). Thus, by identifying the position of the legitimate receiver unit (3) within the communication environment, allows the controller unit (1) to tailor the transmission parameters of each emitter unit (2) based at least on the legitimate receiver's location. In addition, it may also consider the conditions defining the communication environment that may influence the visible communication channel, and in a particular realization of the method, the controller unit (1) may employ afeedback mechanism for continuously adjust the transmission parameter of the emitter units (2), in order to maintain the signal integrity and security.Therefore, the PSL schemes implies the method be able to adjust the power and transmission delay of the signals transmitted by the emitter units (2) to ensure coherent reception at a legitimate receiver unit's location. More particularly, by dynamically adjusting those emitter unit's parameters, it is possible to achieve coherent signal reception exclusively at a designated legitimate receiver's location, thereby mitigating unauthorized access by non-legitimate receivers. In fact, the decomposition and distribution of particularly configured signal components through multiple emitter units (2), result in a non-coherent combination of those signal components at unauthorized locations, thereby increasing the BER and EVM for potential eavesdroppers.In one embodiment of the method, it further comprises the step of: - Receiving, by the controller unit (1), the original data signal from an external communication source, prior to decomposition and transmission.In another embodiment of the method, the complex constellation symbols of a M-ary constellation, sn, may include Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) or Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) symbols.In one embodiment of the method, the controller unit (1) generates binary components with = log2(M number of bits, and said binary components, resulting from decomposing the complex constellation symbols of a M-ary constellation, sn, are generatedIn another embodiment of the method, the controller unit (1) may employ Gray Mapping or Natural Binary Mapping to decompose the complex constellation symbols of a M-ary constellation, sn, into binary component. More particularly, the controller unit (1) generates binary components g = log2(M numberof bits, and said binary components, resulting from decomposing the complex constellation symbols of a M-ary constellation, sn, are generated according to the following the formula:wheredenoting the binary representation of i, b^ = (-l)^n}denoting the polar representation of the bit [3^, b^lq<'L>=(b^Y™1denoting the ithpolar component of snand gtare the non-zero coefficients.In another embodiment of the method, the controller unit decomposes complex constellation symbols of the M-ary constellation, sn, into binary components, by employing Gray coding or Natural Binary coding. More particularly, the controller unit (1) is configured to generate binary components with g = log2(M number of bits, and said binary components, resulting from decomposing sn, are generated by employing Gray coding, according to the following the formula:wherein,corresponding to the nth symbol of the M-ary constellation.In another embodiment of the method, each of the n sub-constellations, sl, consists of Phase-Shift Keying symbols. More particularly, the M-ary constellation is a 16-QAM constellation, and the controller unit (1) decomposes the 16-QAMconstellation symbols, sn, into Binary Phase-Shift Keying (BPSK) symbols with 4 bits, [b1b2b3b4] using Gray coding.Considering a particular realization of a VLC system as being comprised by two emitter units (2) and the M-ary constellation is a 16-QAM constellation, the controller unit (1) decomposes the complex constellation symbols, sn, of the 16-QAM constellation into two sub-constellations, s1and s2, each being represented by 4-bits Quadrature Phase-Shift Keying (QPSK) components. Each emitter unit (2) encodes a subconstellation into a visible light data signal for transmission. More particularly, the controller unit (1) calculates the QPSK decomposed constellation symbols of the two sub-constellations, s1, s2, as follows:s1= 2 x b1— 2j x b3s2= — 1 x b1x b2+ j x b3x b4.In its turn, the legitimate receiver unit (3) reconstructs the 16-QAM constellation of the original data signal, snr, by summing the two sub-constellations s1and s2, so that:snr= s1+ s2.In another embodiment of the method, it further comprises applying, by each emitter unit (2), a precoding factor an, to the visible light data signal to be Kh*transmitted; optionally, an=- — wherein,\hn\hns the VLC channel of an emitter unit (2), K is a real constant that translates the total gain of the VLC channel resulting from the combination of the various individual channels.Of course, the preferred embodiments shown above are combinable, in the different possible forms, being herein avoided the repetition all such combinations.REFERENCES1 - TAN YINZHOU ET AL: "Coherent LiFi System With Spatial Multiplexing", IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMMUNICATIONS, IEEE SERVICE CENTER, PISCATAWAY, NJ. USA, vol. 69, no. 7, 20 April 2021 (2021-04-20), pages 4632-4643, XP011865793.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method for transmitting data using visible light communication, characterized by comprising the following steps:- performing, by a controller unit (1), a constellation decomposition on an original data signal, by decomposing complex constellation symbols of an M-ary constellation, sn, into binary components, thereby defining n sub-constellation components, s1, ...,sn; wherein n >2;- Encoding, by each of n emitter units (2), a respective sub-constellation component, sl, wherein i = 1,into a visible light data signal;- Programming, by the controller unit (1), the signal power and relative transmission delay for each visible light data signal according to the location of the respective emitter unit (2) relative to a legitimate receiver unit (3);- Transmitting, by each emitter unit (2), the encoded visible light data signal; - Receiving, by at least one legitimate receiver unit (3), the n visible light data signals transmitted from the n emitter units (2);- Summing, by the legitimate receiver unit (3), the sub-constellations s1to sn, contained in the n visible light data signals received, thereby reconstructing the M-ary constellation symbols of the original data signal, snr, wherein snr= sn.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:- Receiving, by the controller unit (1), the original data signal from an external communication source, prior to decomposition and transmission.

3. The method according to claims 1 or 2, wherein the complex constellation symbols of a M-ary constellation, sn, include Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) or Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM) symbols.

4. The method according to any of the previous claims, wherein the controller unit (1):generates binary components with = log2(M number of bits; and decomposes the complex constellation symbols of a M-ary constellation, sn, into binary components according to the following expression:where Yn-2,t — Yi,t Yo,t) denoting the binary representation of i,= (— 1)^"}denoting the polar representation of the bit [3^, b^lq<'L>=(b^Y™1denoting the ithpolar component of snand gtare the non-zero coefficients.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the controller unit (1) employs Gray Mapping or Natural Binary Mapping to decompose the complex constellation symbols of a M-ary constellation, sn, into binary component.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the controller unit (1) employs Gray Mapping to generate binary components, resulting from decomposing the complex constellation symbols of a M-ary constellation, sn, following the formula:wherein,corresponding to the nth symbol of the M-ary constellation.

7. The method according to any of the previous claims, wherein each of the n sub-constellations, sl, consists of Phase-Shift Keying symbols.

8. The method according to claims 6 and 7, wherein the M-ary constellation is a 16-QAM constellation,and wherein,the controller unit (1) decomposes the 16-QAM constellation symbols, sn, into Binary Phase-Shift Keying (BPSK) symbols with 4 bits, [b1b2b3b4] using Gray coding.

9. The method according to claims 6 and 7, wherein the number of emitter units (2) is 2 and the M-ary constellation is a 16-QAM constellation; and wherein, the controller unit (1) decomposes the complex constellation symbols, sn, of the 16-QAM constellation into two sub-constellations, s1and s2, each being represented by 4-bits Quadrature Phase-Shift Keying (QPSK) components.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the controller unit (1) calculates the QPSK decomposed constellation symbols of the two sub-constellations, s1,^2, as follows:s1= 2 x b1— 2j x b3s2= — 1 x b1x b2+ j x b3x b4.

11. The method according to any of the previous claims, further comprising the step of:- applying, by each emitter unit (2), a precoding factor an, to the visible light data Kh*signal to be transmitted; optionally, an= ■ — wherein,\hn\hns the VLC channel of an emitter unit (2), K is a real constant that translates the total gain of the VLC channel resulting from the combination of the various individual channels.

12. The method according to any of the previous claims, wherein each emitter unit (2) actuates a light-emitting diode, to transmit the encoded visible light data signal.

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