Securing Image Super-Resolution Transmission with Relay Selection in Regenerative Relay Networks

In the realm of wireless media, transmitting images is not without its risks, as eavesdroppers could potentially intercept and strive to retrieve images that are being sent. The study introduces a secure image cooperative transmission over a Rayleigh fading channel. In this setup, a user named Alice <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$(\mathcal{A})$</tex> ) sends an image with great resolution to another user, Bob (<tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$B$</tex>), with the assistance of a relay, (R), while an eavesdropper, Eve <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$(\mathcal{E})$</tex>, might be trying to listen in. To save transmission bandwidth, <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathcal{A}$</tex> reduces the size of the original high-resolution images. <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$B$</tex> then applies image super-resolution techniques to recreate the quality of high-resolution images from these downscaled versions. The security of the image is protected over wireless communication by using Random Linear Network Coding (RLNC) at both <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$A$</tex> and <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathcal{R}$</tex> to conceal the image into a reference image from the shared image datastore. The simulation shows that SCR (Secure Image Cooperative Relaying) yields a markedly improved output at <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathcal{B}$</tex> compared to <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathcal{E}$</tex> due to <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathcal{E}^{\prime}\mathrm{s}$</tex> lack of knowledge regarding the coefficient matrices and reference images employed at <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$A$</tex> and <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">$\mathcal{R}$</tex>. Additionally, relay selection strategies can be applied to enhance SCR's functionality.