Key error rates in physical layer key generation: Theoretical analysis and measurement-based verification

Abstract

Channel gains are frequently used to obtain a secret key that can be used for encryption in physical layer security systems. However, the channel gains captured by the nodes may not always be the same due to channel estimation errors. This would result in a non-zero key error rate (KER). In this letter, we obtain theoretical expressions for KER in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing systems. Tight KER approximations are provided based on Gauss-Laguerre quadrature. A measurementbased study is conducted by using software defined radio nodes to demonstrate the validity and the practicality of the provided results.