Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA) Framework in Network Mobility (NEMO) Environments

Abstract

Network mobility (NEMO) enables seamless and ubiquitous Internet access while on-board vehicles. Even though the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) has standardized the NEMO basic support protocol as a network layer mobility solution, little studies have been conducted in the area of authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) framework that is a key technology for successful deployment. In this article, we first review the existing AAA protocols and analyze their suitability in NEMO environments. After that, we propose a localized AAA framework to retain the mobility transparency as the NEMO basic support protocol and to reduce the signaling cost incurred in the AAA procedures. The proposed AAA framework supports mutual authentication and prevents various threats such as replay attack, man-in-the-middle attack, and key exposure. Performance analysis on the AAA signaling cost is carried out. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed AAA framework is efficient under different NEMO environments.