Addressing Physical-Layer Challenges via CLAWS: Cross-Layer Approaches to Wireless Secure Communications

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The objective of this research is to investigate new approaches to achieving security in wireless communications systems and other complex networks using physical layer properties. The Cross-Layer Approaches to Wireless Secure Communications (CLAWS) effort aims to address security in new communication paradigms where security is difficult to provide only through existing cryptographic and network security techniques. The CLAWS approach attempts to jointly optimize overall system performance and security. The scheme should be applicable to wireless sensor networks, wireless ad-hoc networks, and future-generation wireless and hybrid communication systems.The intellectual merit of the research is based on: (i) development of a new secure communication design methodology that jointly considers physical laws related to signal transmission and processing, security requirements, and other system performance requirements; (ii) application of the methodology to cooperative wireless communications to trace compromised or adversarial relays, which is a challenging form of insider attack that is not yet widely studied; and (iii) application of the methodology to sensor networks to jointly optimize the establishment of secure communication links and the sensing coverage performance.Broader impacts of the research result from bridging theory and practice from a number of beneficial areas related to secure wireless communications. The project includes outreach to local industry and leverages undergraduate honor programs at the University of Maryland to integrate research and education to train the future workforce. An experimental test bed for interdisciplinary investigation of sensor network security actively involves undergraduate students, especially women and minority students, in cutting-edge research.