Using the Channel State Information for Wireless Security Enhancement

本研究的目的是开发和分析新的方法来提高无线网络的安全性。 该方法是利用物理层属性，特别是无线介质的属性，以显著增强用户认证。 无线和传感器网络的开放性使得它们容易受到欺骗攻击，其中未经授权的用户伪装成另一个合法用户/设备。 虽然传统的加密安全机制可以用来挫败这种攻击，但它们并不能提供完整的解决方案。 本研究利用合法用户的不同信道状态信息来验证该用户的后续传输，其学术价值包括充分考虑在各种干扰和噪声情况下时变频率选择性衰落信道的信道估计新方法。 智力价值还包括估计信道的相当完整的统计特性，用于稳健的统计假设测试，以确定估计的物理层属性是否与来自合法用户的先前物理层属性匹配，或者它们是否来自假身份证。 序贯蒙特卡罗（引导）的方法在贝叶斯框架也被认为是用户authentication.With更广泛的影响，这项研究有可能解决一些无线网络的部署，通过增强的对策越来越多的安全挑战。 所提出的无线认证的设计方法提供了一个全面的框架，以增强传统的无线安全机制。 该项目通过本科生和研究生两级的教学，促进代表性不足群体的学生的教育和研究成果的传播。

The objective of this research is to develop and analyze new approaches to enhancing security in wireless networks. The approach is to exploit physical layer attributes, in particular the properties of the wireless medium, to significantly enhance user authentication. Openness of wireless and sensor networks makes them vulnerable to spoofing attacks where an unauthorized user masquerades as another legitimate user/device. While conventional cryptographic security mechanisms can be used to foil such attacks, they do not offer a complete solution. This research exploits the distinct channel state information of a legitimate user to authenticate subsequent transmissions from this user.The intellectual merit of this research includes a thorough consideration of novel efficient approaches to channel estimation for time-varying frequency-selective fading channels under various interference and noise scenarios. The intellectual merit also includes a fairly complete statistical characterization of the estimated channels for use in robust statistical hypothesis testing to ascertain if the estimated physical layer attributes match the previous physical layer attributes from the legitimate user or if they are from a spoofer. Sequential Monte Carlo (bootstrap) approaches in a Bayesian framework are also considered for user authentication.With respect to broader impacts, this research has the potential to address some of the security challenges that arise from the increasing deployment of wireless networks through enhanced countermeasures. The proposed design methodology for wireless authentication provides a comprehensive framework for enhancing conventional wireless security mechanisms. The project promotes education of students from underrepresented groups and dissemination of research results through teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.