An Overview of Radio Frequency Fingerprinting for Low-End Devices

Abstract

RF fingerprinting is proposed as a means of providing an additional layer of security for wireless devices. A masquerading or impersonation attacks can be prevented by establishing the identity of wireless transmitter using unique transmitter RF fingerprint. Unique RF fingerprints are attributable to the analog components (digital-to-analog converters, band-pass filters, frequency mixers and power amplifiers) present in the RF front ends of transmitters. Most of the previous researches have reported promising results with an accuracy of up to 99% using high-end receivers (e.g. Giga-sampling rate oscilloscopes, spectrum and vector signal analysers) to validate the proposed techniques. However, practical implementation of RF fingerprinting would require validation with low-end (low-cost) devices that also suffers from impairments due to the presence of analog components in the front end of its receiver. This articles provides the analysis and implementation of RF fingerprinting using low-cost receivers and challenges associated with it.