Physical Layer Enhanced Encryption over Wireless Channel

This paper introduces a novel physical layer secure communication technology based on wireless channel direct encryption to enhance the encryption strength of the information source. Unlike traditional methods of key generation based on the reciprocity of the wireless channel, which typically involve quantizing the wireless channel and then negotiating keys, resulting in two completely identical bit strings generated as encryption keys for upper-level cryptographic algorithms between legitimate communication parties, this paper's approach quantizes the quantized bits of the wireless channel characteristics of both legitimate parties and directly encrypts the information source bits by using a designed lightweight encryption/decryption algorithm. Compared to traditional approaches, this paper's method avoids the key consultation process for physical layer key distribution, expanding the scenarios for the use of physical layer keys. Moreover, it can work independently at the same time with the upper layer cryptography to enhance the encryption strength. Through experimental verification, it has been confirmed that, in cases where the channel error rate during information transmission is less than 5*10
^{^-2}
, this model can achieve an average reception accuracy of 99.6% for legitimate communicators while ensuring that eavesdroppers cannot decrypt. This approach can also compatible with upper-layer security encryption/decryption algorithms at each layer of the OSI, e.g., data link layer and network layer, offering extensive application prospects.