Optimal Power Allocation for Physical Layer Security in Multi-Hop DF Relay Networks

In this paper, we consider secure communications of one source-destination pair in wireless multi-hop decode-and-forward (DF) relay networks. In the presence of an eavesdropper, we derive an optimal power allocation strategy to maximize achievable secrecy rates under an overall transmit power constraint assuming that a single relay is located at each individual hop. We demonstrate that the optimal power allocation is obtained when the overall power constraint and the DF-relaying constraints necessary to guarantee that each DF relay correctly decodes the information signals hold with equality, which rely on channel conditions between the source, relays, and destination. The channel conditions for the eavesdropper are shown to only influence relays that may be inactive for secrecy rate maximization. We also consider multiple cooperative relays at each hop to perform cooperative beamforming in the presence of multiple eavesdroppers. To improve the secrecy rate in multi-hop relay networks, which include more than two hops, we propose an iterative cooperative beamformer design and transmit power allocation scheme with relay selection. Numerical results are presented to investigate the secrecy capacity obtained by the optimal power allocation in multi-hop DF relay networks and to confirm the secrecy rate enhancement of the proposed cooperative beamforming scheme.