Publication (By Topics) - Key Generation @ University of Liverpool

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University of Liverpool has been one of the leading institutions worldwide in the area of key generation from wireless channels. We have carried out systematic research to investigate different aspects of this exciting technique, ranging from theoretical modelling, simulation, and experimental validations. This page summarises our key generation publication.

Please find a Poster that summarizes our work.

* denotes corresponding author.

Demonstration

Key Generation Survey

  1. 2020
    J. Zhang, G. Li, A. Marshall, A. Hu, and L. Hanzo, “A new frontier for IoT security emerging from three decades of key generation relying on wireless channels,” IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 138406–138446, 2020, doi: 10.1109/access.2020.3012006.
    DOI 
    @article{zhang2020new,
  title = {A new frontier for {IoT} security emerging from three decades of key generation relying on wireless channels},
  author = {Zhang, Junqing and Li, Guyue and Marshall, Alan and Hu, Aiqun and Hanzo, Lajos},
  journal = {IEEE Access},
  volume = {8},
  pages = {138406--138446},
  year = {2020},
  doi = {10.1109/access.2020.3012006},
  keywords = {keygen,survey}
}
  2. 2019
    G. Li, C. Sun, J. Zhang, E. Jorswieck, B. Xiao, and A. Hu, “Physical layer key generation in 5G and beyond wireless communications: Challenges and opportunities,” Entropy, vol. 21, no. 5, p. 497, 2019, doi: 10.3390/e21050497.
    DOI 
    @article{li2019physical,
  title = {Physical layer key generation in {5G} and beyond wireless communications: Challenges and opportunities},
  author = {Li, Guyue and Sun, Chen and Zhang, Junqing and Jorswieck, Eduard and Xiao, Bin and Hu, Aiqun},
  journal = {Entropy},
  volume = {21},
  number = {5},
  pages = {497},
  year = {2019},
  doi = {10.3390/e21050497},
  keywords = {keygen,survey}
}
  3. 2019
    J. Zhang, S. Rajendran, Z. Sun, R. Woods, and L. Hanzo, “Physical layer security for the Internet of Things: Authentication and key generation,” IEEE Wireless Communications, vol. 26, no. 5, pp. 92–98, 2019, doi: 10.1109/mwc.2019.1800455.
    Why this paper? This tutorial covers radio-frequency fingerprint identification for device authentication and wireless channel-based key generation for secure communication. It also proposes an integrated security framework combining the two techniques.
    DOI 
    @article{zhang2019physical,
  title = {Physical layer security for the {Internet} of Things: Authentication and key generation},
  author = {Zhang, Junqing and Rajendran, Sekhar and Sun, Zhi and Woods, Roger and Hanzo, Lajos},
  journal = {IEEE Wireless Communications},
  volume = {26},
  number = {5},
  pages = {92--98},
  year = {2019},
  doi = {10.1109/mwc.2019.1800455},
  keywords = {rffi,keygen,survey}
}
  4. 2016
    J. Zhang, T. Q. Duong, A. Marshall, and R. Woods, “Key generation from wireless channels: A review,” IEEE Access, vol. 4, pp. 614–626, 2016, doi: 10.1109/access.2016.2521718.
    Why this paper? This comprehensive survey covers the fundamentals, principles, procedures, evaluation metrics, and applications of wireless key generation.
    DOI 
    @article{zhang2016key,
  title = {Key generation from wireless channels: A review},
  author = {Zhang, Junqing and Duong, Trung Q and Marshall, Alan and Woods, Roger},
  journal = {IEEE Access},
  volume = {4},
  pages = {614--626},
  year = {2016},
  doi = {10.1109/access.2016.2521718},
  keywords = {keygen,survey}
}
  5. 2017
    J. Zhang, T. Q. Duong, R. Woods, and A. Marshall, “Securing wireless communications of the Internet of things from the physical layer, An overview,” Entropy, vol. 19, no. 8, p. 420, 2017, doi: 10.3390/e19080420.
    Why this paper? This paper provides a tutorial on wireless key generation and physical-layer encryption.
    DOI arXiv 
    @article{zhang2017securing,
  title = {Securing wireless communications of the {Internet} of things from the physical layer, An overview},
  author = {Zhang, Junqing and Duong, Trung Q and Woods, Roger and Marshall, Alan},
  journal = {Entropy},
  volume = {19},
  number = {8},
  pages = {420},
  year = {2017},
  doi = {10.3390/e19080420},
  arxiv = {1708.05124},
  keywords = {keygen,survey}
}

Key Generation Application

  1. 2022
    Z. Ji et al., “Physical Layer-Based Secure Communications for Static and Low-Latency Industrial Internet of Things,” IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 9, no. 19, pp. 18392–18405, 2022, doi: 10.1109/jiot.2022.3160508.
    DOI 
    @article{ji2022physical,
  title = {Physical Layer-Based Secure Communications for Static and Low-Latency Industrial {Internet} of Things},
  author = {Ji, Zijie and Yeoh, Phee Lep and Chen, Gaojie and Zhang, Junqing and Zhang, Yan and He, Zunwen and Yin, Hao and Li, Yonghui},
  journal = {IEEE Internet of Things Journal},
  volume = {9},
  number = {19},
  pages = {18392 - 18405},
  year = {2022},
  doi = {10.1109/jiot.2022.3160508}
}
  2. 2021
    G. Li, C. Sun, E. A. Jorswieck, J. Zhang, A. Hu, and Y. Chen, “Sum secret key rate maximization for TDD multi-user massive MIMO wireless networks,” IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, vol. 16, pp. 968–982, 2021, doi: 10.1109/tifs.2020.3026466.
    DOI arXiv 
    @article{li2020sum,
  title = {Sum secret key rate maximization for {TDD} multi-user massive {MIMO} wireless networks},
  author = {Li, Guyue and Sun, Chen and Jorswieck, Eduard A and Zhang, Junqing and Hu, Aiqun and Chen, You},
  journal = {IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security},
  volume = {16},
  pages = {968--982},
  year = {2021},
  doi = {10.1109/tifs.2020.3026466},
  arxiv = {2009.09142},
  keywords = {keygen}
}
  3. 2021
    G. Li, Z. Zhang, J. Zhang, and A. Hu, “Encrypting wireless communications on the fly using one-time pad and key generation,” IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 357–369, 2021, doi: 10.1109/jiot.2020.3004451.
    DOI 
    @article{li2020encrypting,
  title = {Encrypting wireless communications on the fly using one-time pad and key generation},
  author = {Li, Guyue and Zhang, Zheying and Zhang, Junqing and Hu, Aiqun},
  journal = {IEEE Internet of Things Journal},
  volume = {8},
  number = {1},
  pages = {357--369},
  year = {2021},
  doi = {10.1109/jiot.2020.3004451},
  keywords = {keygen}
}
  4. 2018
    G. Li, A. Hu, J. Zhang, L. Peng, C. Sun, and D. Cao, “High-agreement uncorrelated secret key generation based on principal component analysis preprocessing,” IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 66, no. 7, pp. 3022–3034, 2018, doi: 10.1109/tcomm.2018.2814607.
    DOI 
    @article{li2018high,
  title = {High-agreement uncorrelated secret key generation based on principal component analysis preprocessing},
  author = {Li, Guyue and Hu, Aiqun and Zhang, Junqing and Peng, Linning and Sun, Chen and Cao, Daming},
  journal = {IEEE Transactions on Communications},
  volume = {66},
  number = {7},
  pages = {3022--3034},
  year = {2018},
  doi = {10.1109/tcomm.2018.2814607},
  keywords = {keygen}
}
  5. 2017
    J. Zhang, B. He, T. Q. Duong, and R. Woods, “On the key generation from correlated wireless channels,” IEEE Communications Letters, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 961–964, 2017, doi: 10.1109/lcomm.2017.2649496.
    Why this paper? This simulation study investigates key-generation principles using a practical channel model and derives the secret-key capacity.
    DOI 
    @article{zhang2017key,
  title = {On the key generation from correlated wireless channels},
  author = {Zhang, Junqing and He, Biao and Duong, Trung Q and Woods, Roger},
  journal = {IEEE Communications Letters},
  volume = {21},
  number = {4},
  pages = {961--964},
  year = {2017},
  doi = {10.1109/lcomm.2017.2649496},
  keywords = {keygen}
}
  6. 2017
    Y. Ding, J. Zhang, and V. F. Fusco, “Retrodirective-assisted secure wireless key establishment,” IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 65, no. 1, pp. 320–334, 2017, doi: 10.1109/tcomm.2016.2616406.
    Why this paper? This simulation study designs a key-generation scheme in which a retrodirective array acts as a relay node.
    DOI 
    @article{ding2016retrodirective,
  title = {Retrodirective-assisted secure wireless key establishment},
  author = {Ding, Yuan and Zhang, Junqing and Fusco, Vincent F},
  journal = {IEEE Transactions on Communications},
  volume = {65},
  number = {1},
  pages = {320--334},
  year = {2017},
  doi = {10.1109/tcomm.2016.2616406}
}

Key Generation with Wi-Fi

  1. 2019
    J. Zhang, M. Ding, D. López-Pérez, A. Marshall, and L. Hanzo, “Design of an efficient OFDMA-based multi-user key generation protocol,” IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 68, no. 9, pp. 8842–8852, 2019, doi: 10.1109/tvt.2019.2929362.
    DOI 
    @article{zhang2019design,
  title = {Design of an efficient {OFDMA}-based multi-user key generation protocol},
  author = {Zhang, Junqing and Ding, Ming and L{\'o}pez-P{\'e}rez, David and Marshall, Alan and Hanzo, Lajos},
  journal = {IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology},
  volume = {68},
  number = {9},
  pages = {8842--8852},
  year = {2019},
  doi = {10.1109/tvt.2019.2929362},
  keywords = {keygen}
}
  2. 2016
    J. Zhang et al., “Experimental study on key generation for physical layer security in wireless communications,” IEEE Access, vol. 4, pp. 4464–4477, 2016, doi: 10.1109/access.2016.2604618.
    Why this paper? This comprehensive experimental study examines temporal variation, channel reciprocity, and spatial decorrelation in an anechoic chamber, a reverberation chamber, and indoor office environments.
    DOI 
    @article{zhang2016experimental,
  title = {Experimental study on key generation for physical layer security in wireless communications},
  author = {Zhang, Junqing and Woods, Roger and Duong, Trung Q and Marshall, Alan and Ding, Yuan and Huang, Yi and Xu, Qian},
  journal = {IEEE Access},
  volume = {4},
  pages = {4464--4477},
  year = {2016},
  doi = {10.1109/access.2016.2604618},
  keywords = {keygen}
}
  3. 2016
    J. Zhang, R. Woods, T. Q. Duong, A. Marshall, and Y. Ding, “Experimental study on channel reciprocity in wireless key generation,” in Proc. IEEE 17th International Workshop on Signal Processing Advances in Wireless Communications (SPAWC), 2016, pp. 1–5. doi: 10.1109/spawc.2016.7536825.
    Why this paper? This experimental study investigates channel reciprocity using two WARP boards connected through a power splitter, enabling the effects of noise and non-simultaneous sampling to be analysed.
    DOI 
    @inproceedings{zhang2016spawc,
  title = {Experimental study on channel reciprocity in wireless key generation},
  author = {Zhang, Junqing and Woods, Roger and Duong, Trung Q and Marshall, Alan and Ding, Yuan},
  booktitle = {Proc. IEEE 17th International Workshop on Signal Processing Advances in Wireless Communications (SPAWC)},
  pages = {1--5},
  year = {2016},
  doi = {10.1109/spawc.2016.7536825},
  keywords = {keygen}
}
  4. 2016
    J. Zhang, A. Marshall, R. Woods, and T. Q. Duong, “Efficient key generation by exploiting randomness from channel responses of individual OFDM subcarriers,” IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 64, no. 6, pp. 2578–2588, 2016, doi: 10.1109/tcomm.2016.2552165.
    Why this paper? This simulation study applies key generation to OFDM systems and models temporal correlation, frequency correlation, and the reciprocity of subcarrier responses.
    DOI 
    @article{zhang2016efficient,
  title = {Efficient key generation by exploiting randomness from channel responses of individual {OFDM} subcarriers},
  author = {Zhang, Junqing and Marshall, Alan and Woods, Roger and Duong, Trung Q},
  journal = {IEEE Transactions on Communications},
  volume = {64},
  number = {6},
  pages = {2578--2588},
  year = {2016},
  doi = {10.1109/tcomm.2016.2552165},
  keywords = {keygen}
}

Key Generation with LoRa

  1. 2022
    L. Yang, Y. Gao, J. Zhang, S. Camtepe, and D. Jayalath, “A channel perceiving attack and the countermeasure on long-range IoT physical layer key generation,” Computer Communications, vol. 191, pp. 108–118, 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.comcom.2022.04.027.
    DOI arXiv 
    @article{yang2022channel,
  title = {A channel perceiving attack and the countermeasure on long-range {IoT} physical layer key generation},
  author = {Yang, Lu and Gao, Yansong and Zhang, Junqing and Camtepe, Seyit and Jayalath, Dhammika},
  journal = {Computer Communications},
  volume = {191},
  pages = {108--118},
  year = {2022},
  doi = {10.1016/j.comcom.2022.04.027},
  arxiv = {1910.08770},
  keywords = {keygen}
}
  2. 2020
    H. Ruotsalainen, J. Zhang, and S. Grebeniuk, “Experimental investigation on wireless key generation for low-power wide-area networks,” IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 1745–1755, 2020, doi: 10.1109/jiot.2019.2946919.
    Why this paper? This paper studies wireless key generation for LoRa and LoRaWAN systems.
    DOI 
    @article{ruotsalainen2019experimental,
  title = {Experimental investigation on wireless key generation for low-power wide-area networks},
  author = {Ruotsalainen, Henri and Zhang, Junqing and Grebeniuk, Stepan},
  journal = {IEEE Internet of Things Journal},
  volume = {7},
  number = {3},
  pages = {1745--1755},
  year = {2020},
  doi = {10.1109/jiot.2019.2946919}
}
  3. 2018
    J. Zhang, A. Marshall, and L. Hanzo, “Channel-envelope differencing eliminates secret key correlation: LoRa-based key generation in low power wide area networks,” IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 67, no. 12, pp. 12462–12466, 2018, doi: 10.1109/tvt.2018.2877201.
    Why this paper? This experimental study investigates key generation for long-range communication using LoRa as a case study.
    DOI arXiv 
    @article{zhang2018channel,
  title = {Channel-envelope differencing eliminates secret key correlation: {LoRa}-based key generation in low power wide area networks},
  author = {Zhang, Junqing and Marshall, Alan and Hanzo, Lajos},
  journal = {IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology},
  volume = {67},
  number = {12},
  pages = {12462--12466},
  year = {2018},
  doi = {10.1109/tvt.2018.2877201},
  arxiv = {1810.08031},
  keywords = {keygen}
}

Key Generation with FDD

  1. 2024
    X. Zhang, G. Li, J. Zhang, L. Peng, A. Hu, and X. Wang, “Enabling deep learning-based physical-layer secret key generation for FDD-OFDM systems in multi-environments,” IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 73, no. 7, pp. 10135–10149, 2024, doi: 10.1109/tvt.2024.3367362.
    DOI arXiv 
    @article{zhang2024enabling,
  title = {Enabling deep learning-based physical-layer secret key generation for {FDD-OFDM} systems in multi-environments},
  author = {Zhang, Xinwei and Li, Guyue and Zhang, Junqing and Peng, Linning and Hu, Aiqun and Wang, Xianbin},
  journal = {IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology},
  volume = {73},
  number = {7},
  pages = {10135 - 10149},
  year = {2024},
  doi = {10.1109/tvt.2024.3367362},
  arxiv = {2211.03065},
  keywords = {keygen}
}
  2. 2022
    X. Zhang, G. Li, J. Zhang, A. Hu, Z. Hou, and B. Xiao, “Deep-Learning-Based Physical-Layer Secret Key Generation for FDD Systems,” IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 9, no. 8, pp. 6081–6094, 2022, doi: 10.1109/jiot.2021.3109272.
    DOI arXiv 
    @article{zhang2022deep,
  title = {Deep-Learning-Based Physical-Layer Secret Key Generation for {FDD} Systems},
  author = {Zhang, Xinwei and Li, Guyue and Zhang, Junqing and Hu, Aiqun and Hou, Zongyue and Xiao, Bin},
  journal = {IEEE Internet of Things Journal},
  volume = {9},
  number = {8},
  pages = {6081--6094},
  year = {2022},
  doi = {10.1109/jiot.2021.3109272},
  arxiv = {2105.08364},
  keywords = {keygen}
}
  3. 2019
    L. Peng, G. Li, J. Zhang, R. Woods, M. Liu, and A. Hu, “An investigation of using loop-back mechanism for channel reciprocity enhancement in secret key generation,” IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 507–519, 2019, doi: 10.1109/tmc.2018.2842215.
    DOI 
    @article{linning2018investigation,
  title = {An investigation of using loop-back mechanism for channel reciprocity enhancement in secret key generation},
  author = {Peng, Linning and Li, Guyue and Zhang, Junqing and Woods, Roger and Liu, Ming and Hu, Aiqun},
  journal = {IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing},
  volume = {18},
  number = {3},
  pages = {507--519},
  year = {2019},
  doi = {10.1109/tmc.2018.2842215},
  keywords = {keygen}
}
  4. 2018
    G. Li, A. Hu, C. Sun, and J. Zhang, “Constructing reciprocal channel coefficients for secret key generation in FDD systems,” IEEE Communications Letters, vol. 22, no. 12, pp. 2487–2490, 2018, doi: 10.1109/lcomm.2018.2875708.
    Why this paper? Because direct channel reciprocity does not hold in FDD systems, this simulation study constructs correlated parameters suitable for key generation.
    DOI 
    @article{li2018constructing,
  title = {Constructing reciprocal channel coefficients for secret key generation in {FDD} systems},
  author = {Li, Guyue and Hu, Aiqun and Sun, Chen and Zhang, Junqing},
  journal = {IEEE Communications Letters},
  volume = {22},
  number = {12},
  pages = {2487--2490},
  year = {2018},
  doi = {10.1109/lcomm.2018.2875708},
  keywords = {keygen}
}

Key Generation with RIS

  1. 2024
    C. Chen, J. Zhang, T. Lu, M. Sandell, and L. Chen, “Secret key generation for IRS-assisted multi-antenna systems: A machine learning-based approach,” IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, vol. 19, pp. 1086–1098, 2024, doi: 10.1109/tifs.2023.3331588.
    DOI arXiv 
    @article{chen2023secret,
  title = {Secret key generation for {IRS}-assisted multi-antenna systems: A machine learning-based approach},
  author = {Chen, Chen and Zhang, Junqing and Lu, Tianyu and Sandell, Magnus and Chen, Liquan},
  journal = {IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security},
  volume = {19},
  pages = {1086--1098},
  year = {2024},
  doi = {10.1109/tifs.2023.3331588},
  arxiv = {2305.00043},
  keywords = {keygen}
}
  2. 2023
    T. Lu, L. Chen, J. Zhang, C. Chen, and A. Hu, “Joint Precoding and Phase Shift Design in Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces-Assisted Secret Key Generation,” IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, vol. 18, pp. 3251–3266, 2023, doi: 10.1109/tifs.2023.3268881.
    DOI arXiv 
    @article{lu2023joint,
  title = {Joint Precoding and Phase Shift Design in Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces-Assisted Secret Key Generation},
  author = {Lu, Tianyu and Chen, Liquan and Zhang, Junqing and Chen, Chen and Hu, Aiqun},
  journal = {IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security},
  volume = {18},
  pages = {3251 - 3266},
  year = {2023},
  doi = {10.1109/tifs.2023.3268881},
  arxiv = {2208.00218},
  keywords = {keygen}
}
  3. 2022
    T. Lu, L. Chen, J. Zhang, K. Cao, and A. Hu, “Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface Assisted Secret Key Generation in Quasi-Static Environments,” IEEE Communications Letters, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 244–248, 2022, doi: 10.1109/lcomm.2021.3130635.
    DOI 
    @article{lu2021reconfigurable,
  title = {Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface Assisted Secret Key Generation in Quasi-Static Environments},
  author = {Lu, Tianyu and Chen, Liquan and Zhang, Junqing and Cao, Kailin and Hu, Aiqun},
  journal = {IEEE Communications Letters},
  volume = {26},
  number = {2},
  pages = {244--248},
  year = {2022},
  doi = {10.1109/lcomm.2021.3130635},
  keywords = {keygen}
}