On the Performance of Index Modulation in OFDM Systems under Jamming Attacks

Index modulation (IM) is one of the potential options for enhancing system resilience against jamming attacks in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. In this paper, to shed light on its capacity for secure wireless communication, we evaluate the resistance of the OFDM-IM system against jamming attacks, compared to the traditional OFDM system. Specifically, our investigation delves into a practical resource mapping scenario, considered in 5G cellular standards. Our finding is that the advantage of the OFDM-IM system over the conventional OFDM system diminishes as the jamming power increases, but the OFDM-IM system still exhibits its robustness against jamming attacks when the influence of the jamming signals is confined to a small number of subcarriers.