Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bali, Rohan, Bailey, Trevor E., Bullock, Michael S., Bash, Boulat A.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.02297
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866909634766307328
author Bali, Rohan
Bailey, Trevor E.
Bullock, Michael S.
Bash, Boulat A.
author_facet Bali, Rohan
Bailey, Trevor E.
Bullock, Michael S.
Bash, Boulat A.
contents The fundamental information-theoretic limits of covert, or low probability of detection (LPD), communication have been extensively studied for over a decade, resulting in the square root law (SRL): only $L\sqrt{n}$ covert bits can be reliably transmitted over time-bandwidth product $n$, for constant $L>0$. Transmitting more either results in detection or decoding errors. The SRL imposes significant constraints on hardware realization of provably-secure covert communication. Thus, experimental validation of covert communication is underexplored: to date, only two experimental studies of SRL-based covert communication are available, both focusing on optical channels. Here, we report our initial results demonstrating the provably-secure covert radio-frequency (RF) communication using software-defined radios (SDRs). These validate theoretical predictions, open practical avenues for implementing covert communication systems, as well as raise future research questions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_02297
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Experimental Covert Communication Using Software-Defined Radio
Bali, Rohan
Bailey, Trevor E.
Bullock, Michael S.
Bash, Boulat A.
Networking and Internet Architecture
Information Theory
Systems and Control
The fundamental information-theoretic limits of covert, or low probability of detection (LPD), communication have been extensively studied for over a decade, resulting in the square root law (SRL): only $L\sqrt{n}$ covert bits can be reliably transmitted over time-bandwidth product $n$, for constant $L>0$. Transmitting more either results in detection or decoding errors. The SRL imposes significant constraints on hardware realization of provably-secure covert communication. Thus, experimental validation of covert communication is underexplored: to date, only two experimental studies of SRL-based covert communication are available, both focusing on optical channels. Here, we report our initial results demonstrating the provably-secure covert radio-frequency (RF) communication using software-defined radios (SDRs). These validate theoretical predictions, open practical avenues for implementing covert communication systems, as well as raise future research questions.
title Experimental Covert Communication Using Software-Defined Radio
topic Networking and Internet Architecture
Information Theory
Systems and Control
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.02297