Using the physical layer for wireless authentication in time-variant channels

The wireless medium contains domain-specific information that can be used to complement and enhance traditional security mechanisms. In this paper we propose ways to exploit the spatial variability of the radio channel response in a rich scattering environment, as is typical of indoor environments....

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIEEE transactions on wireless communications Vol. 7; no. 7; pp. 2571 - 2579
Main Authors Liang Xiao, Greenstein, L., Mandayam, N., Trappe, W.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Piscataway, NJ IEEE 01.07.2008
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
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Summary:The wireless medium contains domain-specific information that can be used to complement and enhance traditional security mechanisms. In this paper we propose ways to exploit the spatial variability of the radio channel response in a rich scattering environment, as is typical of indoor environments. Specifically, we describe a physical-layer authentication algorithm that utilizes channel probing and hypothesis testing to determine whether current and prior communication attempts are made by the same transmit terminal. In this way, legitimate users can be reliably authenticated and false users can be reliably detected. We analyze the ability of a receiver to discriminate between transmitters (users) according to their channel frequency responses. This work is based on a generalized channel response with both spatial and temporal variability, and considers correlations among the time, frequency and spatial domains. Simulation results, using the ray-tracing tool WiSE to generate the time-averaged response, verify the efficacy of the approach under realistic channel conditions, as well as its capability to work under unknown channel variations.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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ISSN:1536-1276
1558-2248
DOI:10.1109/TWC.2008.070194