Performance Evaluation of Covert Communication with Cognitive Jammer and Hardware Impairment

In this work, a covert communication scenario in the presence of a cognitive jammer is studied. The power amplifiers at Alice and Jammer terminals are assumed to have impairments exhibiting a non-linear characteristic. The results shows an upper limit on the PA non-linearity to maintain covert communication. The impairment also imposes an upper limit on Alice's transmission power and PA impairment level to maintain covertness, denying Willie the ability to detect the transmitted signal and to maintain a reliable link with Bob.