State-secrecy codes for networked linear systems

We study the problem of remote state estimation in the presence of a passive eavesdropper. An authorized user estimates the state of an unstable plant based on the packets received from a sensor, while the packets may also be intercepted by the eavesdropper. Our goal is to design a coding scheme at...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Main Authors: Tsiamis, A, Gatsis, K, Pappas, GJ
Formato: Journal article
Idioma:English
Publicado: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 2019
Descripción
Summary:We study the problem of remote state estimation in the presence of a passive eavesdropper. An authorized user estimates the state of an unstable plant based on the packets received from a sensor, while the packets may also be intercepted by the eavesdropper. Our goal is to design a coding scheme at the sensor, which encodes the state information, in order to impair the eavesdropper's estimation performance, while enabling the user to successfully decode the sent messages. We introduce a novel class of codes, termed State-Secrecy Codes, which use acknowledgment signals from the user and apply linear time-varying transformations to the current and previously received states. Under minimal conditions, these codes achieve perfect secrecy, namely the eavesdropper's estimation error grows unbounded almost surely, while the user's estimation performance is optimal. It is sufficient that at least once, the user receives the corresponding packet while the eavesdropper fails to intercept it. Even one occurrence of this event renders the eavesdropper's error unbounded with asymptotically optimal rate of increase. The theoretical results are illustrated in simulations.