Exploiting Beamforming for Enforcing Semantic Secrecy in 5G NR mmWave Communications

We experimentally investigate the performance of semantically-secure physical layer security (PLS) in 5G new radio (NR) mmWave communications during the initial cell search procedure in the NR band n257 at 27 GHz. A gNB transmits PLS-encoded messages in the presence of an eavesdropper, who intercepts the communication by non-intrusively collecting channel readings in the form of IQ samples. For the message transmission, we use the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) within the synchronization signal block. We analyze different signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) conditions by progressively reducing the transmit power of the subcarriers carrying the PBCH channel, while ensuring optimal conditions for over-the-air frequency and timing synchronization. We measure the secrecy performance of the communication in terms of upper and lower bounds for the distinguishing error rate (DER) metric for different SNR levels and beam angles when performing beamsteering in indoor scenarios, such as office environments and laboratory settings.