Energy‐Efficient UAV‐Assisted Covert Communication in WSN With Finite Blocklength

ABSTRACT Wireless sensor network (WSN) is a critical component of the Internet of Things. To address the security threats in WSN, finite blocklength‐based covert communication has emerged as a promising method to protect data from eavesdropping and improve reliability under practical constraints. However, this security communication method poses significant energy challenges, especially in three‐dimensional WSNs with non‐line‐of‐sight communication and strict covert constraints. To address this issue, we propose a jointly optimizing UAV trajectory and wake‐up scheduling method (JOUTWUSM) for finite blocklength covert communication in WSN. By jointly optimizing the UAV's trajectory and wake‐up scheduling, the proposed method effectively balances energy efficiency and communication reliability under finite blocklength covert communication constraints. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed JOUTWUSM significantly reduces energy consumption and improves data collection efficiency.