Subverting Massive MIMO by Smart Jamming

Abstract: We consider uplink transmission of a massive multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) system in the presence of a smart jammer. The jammer aims to degrade the sum spectral efficiency of the legitimate system by attacking both the training and data transmission phases. First, we derive a closed-form expression for the sum spectral efficiency by taking into account the presence of a smart jammer. Then, we determine how a jammer with a given energy budget should attack the training and data transmission phases to induce the maximum loss to the sum spectral efficiency. Numerical results illustrate the impact of optimal jamming specifically in the large limit of the number of base station (BS) antennas.