Antenna grouping for general discriminatory channel estimation

Abstract

Discriminatory channel estimation emerges as a promising method of not only increasing the secrecy rates in conventional wiretap channels, but also providing a valuable tool for solving the authentication problem. In this paper, we revisit the discriminatory channel estimation method by Chang et al. and propose a generalization to the challenging scenario in which the number of antennas at the legitimate receiver equals or exceeds those of the transmitter. The proposed method is based on the simple idea of dividing the receiver antennas into smaller groups. However, the direct application of previous approaches would result into security problems due to the multiple observations of the eavesdropper, and therefore the transmission system needs to be designed taking this fact into account. The performance of the proposed technique is illustrated by means of some numerical examples, which clearly show the feasibility of discriminatory channel estimation even in the case of systems with more antennas at the receiver side.