University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Side Channel Communications with Ghost Modulation Over the Asymmetric Binary Crossover Erasure Channel

Harman, Daniel; Palacios, Ashton; Lundrigan, Philip; Harrison, Willie K.

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/130251

Description

Title
Side Channel Communications with Ghost Modulation Over the Asymmetric Binary Crossover Erasure Channel
Author(s)
  • Harman, Daniel
  • Palacios, Ashton
  • Lundrigan, Philip
  • Harrison, Willie K.
Issue Date
2025-09-17
Keyword(s)
  • Side channels
  • Cross technology communications
  • Asymmetric channels
  • Ghost modulation
  • Channel coding
  • Timing synchronization
Abstract
Side channels have become an essential component of some modern information-theoretic schemes. The emerging field of cross technology communications (CTC) provides practical methods for creating intentional side channels using existing communication technologies. This paper describes a theoretical foundation for one such recently proposed CTC scheme: Ghost Modulation (GM). Designed to modulate a low-data-rate message atop an existing network stream, GM is particularly suited for transmitting identification or covert information. The implementation only requires firmware updates to existing hardware, making it a cost-effective solution. However, GM provides an interesting technical challenge due to an asymmetric binary crossover erasure channel (BCEC) that results from packet drops and network delays. In this work, we provide a mathematical description of the signal and channel models for GM. A heuristic decision rule based on maximum-likelihood principles for simplified channel models is proposed. We describe an algorithm for GM packet acquisition and timing synchronization, supported by simulation results. Several well known short block codes are applied, and bit error rate (BER) results are presented.
Publisher
Allerton Conference on Communication, Control, and Computing
Series/Report Name or Number
2025 61st Allerton Conference on Communication, Control, and Computing Proceedings
ISSN
2836-4503
Type of Resource
Text
Genre of Resource
Conference Paper/Presentation
Language
eng
Handle URL
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/130251&&
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2025 owned by the authors.

Owning Collections

61st Allerton Conference - 2025 PRIMARY
Allerton Conference on Communication, Control, and Computing, 1977-present