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Statistical Indistinguishability in Multi-User Covert Communications Without Secret Information

delete2026-04-01
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PRE
AI
L
Lee, Jinyoung
P
Park, Junguk
Y
Yun, Sangseok *
DOI:10.3390/math14071227delete
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Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
This paper proposes a novel covert communication paradigm in which covertness emerges from network-induced structural uncertainty, eliminating the traditional reliance on pre-shared secret pilots in multi-user cooperative networks. Unlike conventional schemes that create information asymmetry through secret training sequences, we show that structural uncertainty naturally arises from user selection in spatially dispersed networks. Specifically, we consider a public pilot aided system under a worst-case adversarial assumption where Willie possesses full knowledge of all individual channel state information (CSI) but remains uncertain about the active subset of cooperative users. We prove that this selection-induced structural uncertainty renders different transmission states statistically indistinguishable from Willie's perspective, thereby forcing the optimal detector to reduce to an energy-based test. The proposed framework demonstrates that robust covertness can be achieved without secrecy-based coordination, providing a scalable and practically viable alternative to secret pilot management in future wireless networks.
Keywords:
covert communications
public pilot
communication system
physical layer security
wireless communications
6G

Journal

Mathematics cover
Mathematics
IF:
2.2
Papers:
2.4K
Citations:
3.6W

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samsung
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samsung electronics
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korea maritime & ocean university
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