5G device-to-device communication security and multipath routing solutions

Through direct communication, device-to-device (D2D) technology can increase the overall throughput, enhance the coverage, and reduce the power consumption of cellular communications. Security will be of paramount importance in 5G, because 5G devices will directly affect our safety, such as by steering self-driving vehicles and controlling health care applications. 5G will be supporting millions of existing devices without adequate built-in security, as well as new devices whose extreme computing power will make them attractive targets for hackers.This paper presents a survey of the literature on security problems relating to D2D communications in mobile 5G networks. Issues include eavesdropping, jamming, primary user emulation attack, and injecting attack. Because multipath routing emerges as a strategy that can help combat many security problems, particularly eavesdropping, the paper contains an extensive discussion of the security implications of multipath routing. Finally, the paper describes results of a simulation that tests three path selection techniques inspired by the literature. The simulation reveals that routing information through interference disjoint paths most effectively inhibits eavesdropping.