Estimation theoretic optimal encoding design for secure transmission of multiple parameters

In this paper, optimal deterministic encoding of a vector parameter is investigated in the presence of an eavesdropper. The objective is to minimize the expectation of the conditional Cramér-Rao bound at the intended receiver, while satisfying an individual secrecy constraint on the mean-squared error of estimating each parameter at the eavesdropper. The eavesdropper is modeled to employ the linear minimum mean-squared error estimator based on the noisy observation of the encoded parameter without being aware of encoding. First, the problem is formulated as a constrained optimization problem in the space of vector-valued functions. Then, two practical solution strategies are developed based on nonlinear individual encoding and affine joint encoding of parameters. Theoretical results on the solutions of the proposed strategies are provided for various scenarios on channel conditions and parameter distributions. Finally, numerical examples are presented to illustrate the performance of the proposed solution approaches.