On the physical layer security in large scale cellular networks

This paper studies the information-theoretic secrecy performance in large-scale cellular networks based on a stochastic geometry framework. The locations of both base stations and the mobile users are modeled as independent two-dimensional Poisson point processes. We consider a key feature of the cellular network, namely, information exchange between base stations, and characterize its impact on the achievable secrecy rate of an arbitrary downlink transmission with a certain portion of the mobile users acting as potential eavesdroppers. In particular, analytical results are presented under diverse assumptions on the availability of eavesdroppers´ location information at the serving base station, which captures the benefit from the exchange of mobile users´ location information between base stations.