Security Analysis of Integrated HAP-Based FSO and UAV-Enabled RF Downlink Communications

Abstract

High-altitude platform (HAP) stations are pivotal in non-terrestrial networks, enhancing communication capabilities and extending cost-effective network access to rural or remote areas. HAP-assisted free-space optical (FSO) communications provide a promising solution for improving data rates. To safeguard against eavesdropping, especially during emergencies, we propose a physical-layer security mechanism to enhance the control signaling resilience in disaster response and network failure detection. We investigate the secrecy performance of an integrated HAP-based FSO and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-enabled radio frequency (RF) downlink system using the decode-and-forward relaying protocol. While optical links inherently provide better security, our focus is on the eavesdropping threats to the RF link. We derive novel and exact analytical and asymptotic closed-form expressions for the secrecy outage probability (SOP) and the probability of strictly positive secrecy capacity (PSPSC). Our results reveal the significant impact of atmospheric turbulence, RF fading, pointing errors, and optical detection technologies on the overall secrecy performance, providing valuable insights for designing secure mixed FSO and RF downlink communication systems.