A Framework for Wireless Network Security Based on Reconfigurable Antennas

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The objective of this project is to demonstrate how electrically reconfigurable antennas can be coupled with physical layer based security algorithms to significantly augment wireless network security. The large scale proliferation of wireless technology brings with it a more serious concern for security since wireless data transmission introduces multiple avenues for attack and penetration into a network. Reconfigurable antennas are antennas that can be electrically modified to exhibit different radiation patterns. The approach is to develop a framework for wireless network security based on the capabilities of reconfigurable antennas and techniques adapted from wireless communications, signal processing, and information theory.The intellectual merit of this project is to address the technical challenges associated with wireless network security by using reconfigurable antennas. The ability of reconfigurable antennas to generate different channel realizations from a single physical antenna also has the potential to greatly augment physical layer based security algorithms and encryption-key generation techniques. Emphasis will be placed on the development of compact reconfigurable antenna structures, fingerprints for device identification, and encryption key generation based on reconfigurable antennas.This project will have broader impacts beyond the stated research goals, as the research component of this project will be tightly integrated with an educational component that seeks to encourage design and innovation among undergraduate students as well as professionals seeking continuing education. Drexel University is a Center of Excellence for Information Assurance Education. This Center will be augmented by course modules in physical layer security and demonstrations with actual hardware.