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Virginia Tech

Analysis of Jamming-Vulnerabilities of Modern Multi-carrier Communication Systems

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

The ever-increasing demand for private and sensitive data transmission over wireless networks has made security a crucial concern in the current and future large-scale, dynamic, and heterogeneous wireless communication systems. To address this challenge, wireless researchers have tried hard to continuously analyze the jamming threats and come up with improved countermeausres. In this research, we have analyzed the jamming-vulnerabilities of the leading multi-carrier communication systems, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) and Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA). In order to lay the necessary theoretical groundwork, first we derived the analytical BER expressions for BPSK/QPSK and analytical upper and lower bounds for 16-QAM for OFDMA and SC-FDMA using Pilot Symbol Assisted Channel Estimation (PSACE) techniques in Rayleigh slow-fading channel that takes into account channel estimation error as well as pilot-jamming effect. From there we advanced to propose more novel attacks on the Cyclic Prefix (CP) of SC-FDMA. The associated countermeasures developed prove to be very effective to restore the system. We are first to consider the effect of frequency-selectivity and fading correlation of channel on the achievable rates of the legitimate system under pilot-spoofing attack. With respect to jamming mitigation techniques, our approaches are more focused on Anti-Jamming (AJ) techniques rather than Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) methods. The Channel State Information (CSI) of the two transceivers and the CSI between the jammer and the target play critical roles in ensuring the effectiveness of jamming and nulling attacks. Although current literature is rich with different channel estimation techniques between two legitimate transceivers, it does not have much to offer in the area of channel estimation from jammer's perspective. In this dissertation, we have proposed novel, computationally simple, deterministic, and optimal blind channel estimation techniques for PSK-OFDM as well as QAM-OFDM that estimate the jammer channel to the target precisely in high Signal-to-Noise (SNR) environment from a single OFDM symbol and thus perform well in mobile radio channel. We have also presented the feasibility analysis of estimating transceiver channel from jammer's perspective at the transmitter as well as receiver side of the underlying OFDM system.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Ph. D.
Level thesis:degree_level
doctoral
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Electrical Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Electrical Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2018

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Mahal, Jasmin Ara
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Clancy, Thomas Charles III
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Saad, Walid
  • Silva, Luiz A.
  • Roan, Michael J.
  • McGwier, Robert W.

Subjects

dc:subject × 10

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:16447
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/83570

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Mahal, Jasmin Ara. Analysis of Jamming-Vulnerabilities of Modern Multi-carrier Communication Systems. doctoral thesis, Virginia Tech, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/83570