Non-Coherent Fast-Forward Relays for Full-Duplex Jamming Attack

Abstract: This work addresses a strategy to mitigate jamming attack on low-latency communication by a Full-Duplex (FD) adversary in fast-fading channel conditions. The threat model is such that the FD adversary can jam a frequency band and measure the jammed band's power level. We first point out that due to the presence of this FD adversary, Frequency Hopping (FH) fails. We then propose a fast-forward cooperative relaying scheme, wherein the victim node hops to the frequency band of a nearby FD helper node that fast-forwards the victim's symbol along with its symbol. At the same time, the victim and the helper cooperatively pour some fraction of their power on the jammed band to engage the adversary. Due to fast-fading channel conditions, the victim and the helper use amplitude based non-coherent signalling referred to as Non-Coherent Fast-Forward Full-Duplex (NC-F2FD) relaying. To minimize the error-rate of this strategy, we jointly design the constellations at the helper node and the victim node by formulating an optimization problem. Using non-trivial results, we first analyse the objective function and then, based on the analytical results, propose a low-complexity algorithm to synthesize the fast-forwarded constellations. Through simulations, we show that the error performance of the victim improves after employing our countermeasure.