Optimal Link Configuration for Covert Heterogeneous Wireless Networks with Power Constraints

Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets) leverage multiple communication interfaces (e.g., Wi-Fi, cellular, Bluetooth) seamlessly integrated to enhance connectivity and capacity across diverse environments. These capabilities can be advantageous for covert communication, where the objective is to ensure undetectable transmission in the presence of an adversary. This work investigates optimal power allocation strategies for covert communication within HetNets under maximum power constraints. We propose a polynomial-time (m<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup>) algorithm for optimal link configuration by allocating power across multiple modes. Next, we address network-level covertness by allocating the end-to-end covertness constraint across links in a two-hop system that maximizes throughput. Leveraging the link configuration approach, we derive the optimal power allocation for each mode and link, ensuring the overall transmission remains undetectable. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed method outperforms existing single-link and two-hop approaches, achieving higher efficiency and security in covert communication across HetNets.