Research on Covert Communication Transmission Scheme Combining Relay Selection and Mode Selection over Nakagami-<i>m</i> Fading Channels

HUANG Haiyan; HUANG Yi; ZHANG Ning; LIANG Linlin; ZHANG Xuejun

doi:10.11999/JEIT260287

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HUANG Haiyan, HUANG Yi, ZHANG Ning, LIANG Linlin, ZHANG Xuejun. Research on Covert Communication Transmission Scheme Combining Relay Selection and Mode Selection over Nakagami-m Fading Channels[J]. Journal of Electronics & Information Technology. doi: 10.11999/JEIT260287

Citation:

HUANG Haiyan, HUANG Yi, ZHANG Ning, LIANG Linlin, ZHANG Xuejun. Research on Covert Communication Transmission Scheme Combining Relay Selection and Mode Selection over Nakagami-m Fading Channels[J]. Journal of Electronics & Information Technology. doi: 10.11999/JEIT260287

Citation:

HUANG Haiyan, HUANG Yi, ZHANG Ning, LIANG Linlin, ZHANG Xuejun. Research on Covert Communication Transmission Scheme Combining Relay Selection and Mode Selection over Nakagami-m Fading Channels[J]. Journal of Electronics & Information Technology. doi: 10.11999/JEIT260287

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Research on Covert Communication Transmission Scheme Combining Relay Selection and Mode Selection over Nakagami-m Fading Channels

doi: 10.11999/JEIT260287 cstr: 32379.14.JEIT260287

1.
School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Lanzhou Jiaotong University, Lanzhou 730070, China
2.
China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co., Ltd., Chengdu 610031, China
3.
School of Cyber Engineering, Xidian University, Xi’an 710071, China

Funds: The National Natural Science Foundation of China (62461032 and 62001359), Lanzhou Youth Science and Technology Talent Innovation Special Project (2025-QN-071), The Key Research and Development Program of Gansu Province (25YFFA089), The Key Research and Development Project of Lanzhou Jiaotong University (ZDYF2304)

Received Date: 2026-03-13
Accepted Date: 2026-06-29
Rev Recd Date: 2026-05-14

Available Online: 2026-07-07

Abstract

Abstract

Objective Covert communication enhances the security of wireless communication systems by concealing both transmitted information and communication activities from unauthorized detection. However, practical wireless channels exhibit random and uncertain propagation conditions. The Nakagami-m fading channel, which can characterize a wide range of channel conditions, provides a realistic framework for evaluating the performance of covert communication. Relay-assisted transmission has attracted considerable attention because it improves transmission reliability over fading channels. Moreover, relay selection and transmission mode selection substantially affect system performance. Therefore, investigating their combined effect on covert communication over Nakagami-m fading channels is of both theoretical and practical significance for the design of next-generation secure wireless communication systems. Methods This paper proposes a covert communication system incorporating relay selection and transmission mode selection. The source node transmits covert information to the destination node through multiple relays, while a warden monitors transmissions from both the source and relay nodes. A friendly jammer transmits interference signals to degrade the warden’s detection capability. Four transmission schemes are considered: optimal relay selection with fixed Half-Duplex (HD) or Full-Duplex (FD) operation, optimal relay selection with random transmission mode selection, random relay selection with optimal transmission mode selection, and joint optimal relay and transmission mode selection. Closed-form expressions for the warden’s detection error probability under both HD and FD optimal relay selection are derived over Nakagami-m fading channels. Closed-form expressions for the transmission outage probability, asymptotic transmission outage probability, and covert rate are also derived for all transmission schemes. The theoretical analysis is validated through MATLAB simulations. Results and Discussions Simulation results demonstrate that an optimal detection threshold exists that minimizes the detection error probability (Fig. 2). As the detection threshold or jamming power increases, the warden’s ability to detect covert communication decreases, causing the detection error probability to approach one (Figs. 2 and 3). Under the same target transmission rate and high Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) conditions, the joint relay and transmission mode selection scheme achieves the lowest transmission outage probability, thereby providing the highest transmission reliability (Figs. 4 and 5). At a target transmission rate of $ \text{6.5 bit/(s}\cdot \text{Hz)} $, the transmission outage probability of the joint relay and transmission mode selection scheme is 6.9% lower than that of the FD transmission scheme (Fig. 4). As the transmit power and the number of relays increase, the covert rate gradually approaches a constant value. Among all transmission schemes, the joint relay and transmission mode selection scheme consistently achieves the highest covert rate (Figs. 6 and 7). Conclusions This paper proposes a covert communication system based on relay selection and transmission mode selection over Nakagami-m fading channels. Closed-form expressions for the warden’s detection error probability and the system’s transmission outage probability are derived under different relay selection and transmission mode selection strategies. The asymptotic transmission outage probability and covert rate are then analyzed. Simulation results show that increasing the detection threshold or jamming power weakens the warden’s ability to detect covert communication, causing the detection error probability to approach one. Under identical target transmission rates and high SNR conditions, the joint relay and transmission mode selection scheme achieves the lowest transmission outage probability. These results indicate that appropriate relay selection and transmission mode selection not only reduce the warden’s detection capability and protect covert communication, but also improve both transmission reliability and covertness. Future work will consider practical factors, including imperfect channel state information, residual self-interference, and incomplete knowledge of the warden’s channel.
- Covert communication,
- Transmission mode selection,
- Relay selection,
- Detection error probability,
- Transmission outage probability

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References(27)

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