Sidelobe reduction and capacity improvement of open-loop collaborative beamforming in wireless sensor networks.

Collaborative beamforming (CBF) with a finite number of collaborating nodes (CNs) produces sidelobes that are highly dependent on the collaborating nodes' locations. The sidelobes cause interference and affect the communication rate of unintended receivers located within the transmission range. Nulling is not possible in an open-loop CBF since the collaborating nodes are unable to receive feedback from the receivers. Hence, the overall sidelobe reduction is required to avoid interference in the directions of the unintended receivers. However, the impact of sidelobe reduction on the capacity improvement at the unintended receiver has never been reported in previous works. In this paper, the effect of peak sidelobe (PSL) reduction in CBF on the capacity of an unintended receiver is analyzed. Three meta-heuristic optimization methods are applied to perform PSL minimization, namely genetic algorithm (GA), particle swarm algorithm (PSO) and a simplified version of the PSO called the weightless swarm algorithm (WSA). An average reduction of 20 dB in PSL alongside 162% capacity improvement is achieved in the worst case scenario with the WSA optimization. It is discovered that the PSL minimization in the CBF provides capacity improvement at an unintended receiver only if the CBF cluster is small and dense.

Robust multiple frequency multiple power localization schemes in the presence of multiple jamming attacks.

Localization of the wireless sensor network is a vital area acquiring an impressive research concern and called upon to expand more with the rising of its applications. As localization is gaining prominence in wireless sensor network, it is vulnerable to jamming attacks. Jamming attacks disrupt communication opportunity among the sender and receiver and deeply impact the localization process, leading to a huge error of the estimated sensor node position. Therefore, detection and elimination of jamming influence are absolutely indispensable. Range-based techniques especially Received Signal Strength (RSS) is facing severe impact of these attacks. This paper proposes algorithms based on Combination Multiple Frequency Multiple Power Localization (C-MFMPL) and Step Function Multiple Frequency Multiple Power Localization (SF-MFMPL). The algorithms have been tested in the presence of multiple types of jamming attacks including capture and replay, random and constant jammers over a log normal shadow fading propagation model. In order to overcome the impact of random and constant jammers, the proposed method uses two sets of frequencies shared by the implemented anchor nodes to obtain the averaged RSS readings all over the transmitted frequencies successfully. In addition, three stages of filters have been used to cope with the replayed beacons caused by the capture and replay jammers. In this paper the localization performance of the proposed algorithms for the ideal case which is defined by without the existence of the jamming attack are compared with the case of jamming attacks. The main contribution of this paper is to achieve robust localization performance in the presence of multiple jamming attacks under log normal shadow fading environment with a different simulation conditions and scenarios.

Compact circularly polarized truncated square ring slot antenna with suppressed higher resonances.

This paper presents a compact circularly polarized (CP) antenna with an integrated higher order harmonic rejection filter. The proposed design operates within the ISM band of 2.32 GHz- 2.63 GHz and is suitable for example for wireless power transfer applications. Asymmetrical truncated edges on a square ring create a defected ground structure to excite the CP property, simultaneously realizing compactness. It offers a 50.5% reduced patch area compared to a conventional design. Novel stubs and slot shapes are integrated in the transmission line to reduce higher (up to the third) order harmonics. The proposed prototype yields a -10 dB reflection coefficient (S11) impedance bandwidth of 12.53%, a 3 dB axial ratio bandwidth of 3.27%, and a gain of 5.64 dBi. Measurements also show good agreement with simulations.

Physical Layer Security Using Two-Path Successive Relaying.

Relaying is one of the useful techniques to enhance wireless physical-layer security. Existing literature shows that employing full-duplex relay instead of conventional half-duplex relay improves secrecy capacity and secrecy outage probability, but this is at the price of sophisticated implementation. As an alternative, two-path successive relaying has been proposed to emulate operation of full-duplex relay by scheduling a pair of half-duplex relays to assist the source transmission alternately. However, the performance of two-path successive relaying in secrecy communication remains unexplored. This paper proposes a secrecy two-path successive relaying protocol for a scenario with one source, one destination and two half-duplex relays. The relays operate alternately in a time division mode to forward messages continuously from source to destination in the presence of an eavesdropper. Analytical results reveal that the use of two half-duplex relays in the proposed scheme contributes towards a quadratically lower probability of interception compared to full-duplex relaying. Numerical simulations show that the proposed protocol achieves the ergodic achievable secrecy rate of full-duplex relaying while delivering the lowest probability of interception and secrecy outage probability compared to the existing half duplex relaying, full duplex relaying and full duplex jamming schemes.

Two-Stage Design Method for Enhanced Inductive Energy Transmission with Q-Constrained Planar Square Loops.

Q-factor constraints are usually imposed on conductor loops employed as proximity range High Frequency Radio Frequency Identification (HF-RFID) reader antennas to ensure adequate data bandwidth. However, pairing such low Q-factor loops in inductive energy transmission links restricts the link transmission performance. The contribution of this paper is to assess the improvement that is reached with a two-stage design method, concerning the transmission performance of a planar square loop relative to an initial design, without compromise to a Q-factor constraint. The first stage of the synthesis flow is analytical in approach, and determines the number and spacing of turns by which coupling between similar paired square loops can be enhanced with low deviation from the Q-factor limit presented by an initial design. The second stage applies full-wave electromagnetic simulations to determine more appropriate turn spacing and widths to match the Q-factor constraint, and achieve improved coupling relative to the initial design. Evaluating the design method in a test scenario yielded a more than 5% increase in link transmission efficiency, as well as an improvement in the link fractional bandwidth by more than 3%, without violating the loop Q-factor limit. These transmission performance enhancements are indicative of a potential for modifying proximity HF-RFID reader antennas for efficient inductive energy transfer and data telemetry links.

Performance Evaluation of Localization Accuracy for a Log-Normal Shadow Fading Wireless Sensor Network under Physical Barrier Attacks.

Localization is an apparent aspect of a wireless sensor network, which is the focus of much interesting research. One of the severe conditions that needs to be taken into consideration is localizing a mobile target through a dispersed sensor network in the presence of physical barrier attacks. These attacks confuse the localization process and cause location estimation errors. Range-based methods, like the received signal strength indication (RSSI), face the major influence of this kind of attack. This paper proposes a solution based on a combination of multi-frequency multi-power localization (C-MFMPL) and step function multi-frequency multi-power localization (SF-MFMPL), including the fingerprint matching technique and lateration, to provide a robust and accurate localization technique. In addition, this paper proposes a grid coloring algorithm to detect the signal hole map in the network, which refers to the attack-prone regions, in order to carry out corrective actions. The simulation results show the enhancement and robustness of RSS localization performance in the face of log normal shadow fading effects, besides the presence of physical barrier attacks, through detecting, filtering and eliminating the effect of these attacks.