Sign of slant receiver for skewed alpha-stable noise shift keying-based random communication system

Purpose In contrast to traditional communication systems, slower data rate has always remained a weak link for non-traditional random communication systems (RCSs), which use alpha-stable (a-stable) noise as a carrier. This paper aims to introduce a fast receiver for skewed a-stable noise shift keying (SkaSNSK)-based RCSs. Design/methodology/approach The introduced receiver is based on the sign of slant estimator (SoSE), which provides rapid estimation of the skewed a-stable random noise signals (RNSs) received from the additive white Gaussian noise channel. The SoSE-based receiver minimizes the number of samples required to extract the encoded information from the received RNSs. This is achieved by manipulating the antipodal properties of the slant/skewness parameter of the a-stable carrier. Hence, a high data rate with relatively low complexity is guaranteed. Findings In comparison with the previously introduced sinc, logarithmic and modified extreme value method-based receivers, the proposed SoSE-based receiver also achieves improved bit error rate (BER) along with the better covertness values so that the essence of security provided by SkaSNSK-based RCSs remains intact. Research limitations/implications Because of the selected range of the associated parameters of the a-stable noise as a carrier, the BER vs MSNR results are may lack applicability for the complete range of values. Therefore, further research is required to produce results in different ranges. Practical implications The study includes implications for the hardware development based on the proposed communication scheme. Originality/value It can be seen that the paper fulfils the desired need of a fast receiver design for RCS.