Enhanced Covertness with Relay Selection over Nakagami-m Fading Channel

The performance of relay selection schemes in covert communication scenarios for Nakagami-m fading channels is investigated in this paper. The source covertly sends the signals to the selected relay by the best Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) between relay and destination node. Next, the selected relay decodes and forwards the covert signals to destination. Closed-form expressions for both detection error probability and average covert throughput of the system are provided. Finally, the analytical findings are verified through Monte Carlo simulations showing (a) partial relay selection can significantly decrease detection error probability, and (b) average covert throughput gain will be achieved when either the Nakagami-m fading parameter or source's transmit rate increases.