Cascaded κ-μ Fading Channels with Colluding and Non-Colluding Eavesdroppers: Physical-Layer Security Analysis

Abstract

In this paper, the physical-layer security for a three-node wiretap system model is studied. Under the threat of multiple eavesdroppers, it is presumed that a transmitter is communicating with a legitimate receiver. The channels are assumed to be following cascaded κ-μ fading distributions. In addition, two scenarios for eavesdroppers’ interception and information-processing capabilities are investigated: colluding and non-colluding eavesdroppers. The positions of these eavesdroppers are assumed to be random in the non-colluding eavesdropping scenario, based on a homogeneous Poisson point process (HPPP). The security is examined in terms of the secrecy outage probability, the probability of non-zero secrecy capacity, and the intercept probability. The exact and asymptotic expressions for the secrecy outage probability and the probability of non-zero secrecy capacity are derived. The results demonstrate the effect of the cascade level on security. Additionally, the results indicate that as the number of eavesdroppers rises, the privacy of signals exchanged between legitimate ends deteriorates. Furthermore, in this paper, regarding the capabilities of tapping and processing the information, we provide a comparison between colluding and non-colluding eavesdropping.