A Multi-User Encryption and Authentication System Based on Joint Transform Correlation

Optical image encryption technology based on joint transform correlation (JTC) has attracted increasing attention from researchers. We propose a multi-user secure communication system based on the special properties of JTC. Multiple users utilize their own fingerprints to encrypt the plain-text in the encryption process, and each user must be first authenticated at the beginning of the decryption process. Only users with legitimate identities can perform the decryption process, whereas unauthorized users with false identities cannot, so the security of the system is greatly improved. Furthermore, we propose a multi-user double-image encryption method, which can better meet the needs of different security environments. Considering the possibility of overlapping images at the output end, we prove that a JTC-based image encryption system can avoid overlapping images at the output when the distance between the input images is 3W (W is the side length of a square image), which provides a theoretical foundation for further research. Finally, a numerical simulation demonstrates the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed idea.