Design of Covert Military Networks: A Spectral Outage-based Approach

This paper puts forth the concept of spectral outage probability (SOP), a new characterization of the aggregate electromagnetic emission generated by communicating nodes in a wireless network. The spatial distribution of the emitting nodes is accounted for by resorting to a Poisson point process in the two-dimensional plane. We consider a realistic scenario of slowly-moving, asynchronous nodes in a wireless environment subject to path loss, shadowing, and multipath fading. Under this scenario, we first analyze the power spectral density (PSD) of the aggregate network emission, measured at an arbitrary location in the two-dimensional plane. Then, we define and analyze the corresponding SOP. The proposed model captures all the essential physical parameters that affect the aggregate network emission, yet is simple enough to provide insights that may be of value in the design of covert military networks