Collaborative Research: SWIFT: Closing the Loop for Accountable Interference-free Spectrum Sharing with Passive Radio Receivers

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Spectrum in the US is incredibly valuable to science, education, commerce, transportation, and contemporary life. Wireless bandwidth needs are rapidly growing, but allocation of spectrum to wireless users should not come at the expense of scientific observation in astronomy and earth science which are already under-allocated and subject to interference when operating opportunistically outside the narrow protected bands. This project is developing new secure and accountable sharing protocols that not only enable more efficient sharing of the spectrum between terrestrial commercial wireless systems and passive receivers, but also empowers passive systems to force a particular interfering transmitter to switch band. Improved coexistence allows more reliable operation of radio astronomy receivers. This project is creating open source software and data, and working with the ITU-R to ensure that results impact the research community and future spectrum sharing policy. Developments are impacting undergraduate and graduate education through course material and research experiences, and the project is engaged in K12 outreach.This project is developing RF watermarks that embed random pseudonyms into transmitted wireless communication signals so that passive receivers can demodulate the pseudonym of any interferer. The proposed system then allows passive receivers to indirectly inform the interfering device to change band. To prevent any other device from inferring private information, the proposed system leverages differential privacy to quantitatively limit privacy leakage. Further, the project is adapting software attestation to develop proof of correct execution of spectrum decision on user equipment, and complementing the watermark-based detection system with spectrum policy enforcement. Protocols under study are being implemented and tested on PAWR testbeds as an open source project. Extensive experimentation, including at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory, is validating the technical contributions, and quantifying its performance and robustness to attacks.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.