Open Access

Fadhil S. Hasan, Alejandro A. Valenzuela

• A novel multidimensional index modulation-based differential chaos shift keying (DCSK) technique, designated as Joint Subcarrier Time Reference Index Modulation-aided Differential Chaos Shift Keying (JSTRIM-DCSK), is proposed for efficient data transmission in chaotic communication systems. The JSTRIM-DCSK system integrates subcarrier, time slot, and reference signal indexing to transmit information and offers two variants: JSTRIM-DCSK-I and JSTRIM-DCSK-II. The data is organized into L subblocks, each containing Ns subcarrier index bits ps and Nt time slot index bits pt , reference index bits pr , and modulated bits pm . The subcarrier and time slot index bits jointly select an active or inactive subcarrier time slot combination from a total of Ns ⋅ Nt possibilities, categorizing the system as either JSTRIM-DCSK-I (active) or JSTRIM-DCSK-II (inactive). The reference indexed bits select a single chaotic reference signal from Nr orthogonal chaotic vectors generated using the Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization process. The modulated bits are transmitted using a DCSK modulation scheme. Analytical expressions for the bit error rate (BER) performance of the JSTRIM-DCSK system are derived under both additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) and multipath Rayleigh fading channel (MRFC) conditions. Furthermore, the potential for energy savings, bandwidth efficiency, and system complexity of the JSTRIM-DCSK system are thoroughly analyzed and compared with those of the existing techniques. The simulation results validate the analytical expressions and demonstrate the potential of JSTRIM-DCSK to achieve high data rates, efficient energy savings, and a competitive BER performance.