The Complete and Incomplete Low-Bit-Rate Hybrid PLC/Wireless Channel Models: Physical Layer Security Analyses

This paper investigates the benefits of the existing diversity in the parallel use of both power line and wireless channels, which is termed hybrid power line communication (PLC)/wireless, to improve physical layer security (PLS) for low-bit-rate applications. In this regard, mathematical formulations of the ergodic achievable secrecy rate and the secrecy outage probability are developed for the hybrid PLC/wireless channel model and its incomplete versions. The results show that the hybrid PLC/wireless channel model can provide remarkable benefits in terms of PLS for low-bit-rate applications when the eavesdropper makes use of only one data communication interface.