Secure Semantic Communication over Wiretap Channel

Abstract: Semantic communication is a new paradigm for information transmission that integrates the essential meaning (semantics) of the message into the communication process. However, like in classic wireless communications, the open nature of wireless channels poses security risks for semantic communications. In this paper, we characterize information-theoretic limits for the secure transmission of a semantic source over a wiretap channel. Under separate secrecy and distortion constrains for semantics and observed data, we present general inner and outer bounds on the rate-distortion-equivocation region. We also reduce the general region to the case of Gaussian source and Gaussian wiretap channel and provide numerical evaluations.