Distance Uncertainty Aided Covert Transmission in Internet of Vehicle Networks

This paper aims to enhance the privacy of users in the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) networks by utilizing covert communication technique that conceal the existence of communication. Specifically, we conceive a covert IoV network, where a mobile vehicle (Alice) opportunistically initiates information transmission without Willie’s knowledge. Meanwhile, a full-duplex receiver (Bob) transmits artificial noise (AN) to against Willie’s eavesdropping attack. Furthermore, the closed form theoretical expression for the minimum detection error probability (DEP) at Willie and the suboptimal solution for Alice’s covert transmission power have been obtained. The simulation outcomes demonstrate that the combined impact of distance uncertainty and jamming power is remarkable for Willie’s DEP, covert rate as well as covert outage probability (COP). These findings reveal that an appropriate jamming power does have a positive impact on covert performance, while distance uncertainty can still significantly enhance DEP when Alice is far away from Willie or the jamming power is relatively large.