Physical layer assisted authentication for distributed ad hoc wireless sensor networks

Abstract

The paper introduces a novel message authentication framework over broadcast channels, where a symmetric cryptography-based physical layer assisted message authentication (PLAA) scheme is introduced in wireless networks. The proposed framework integrate the conventional message authentication schemes and the physical layer authentication mechanisms by taking advantage of temporal and spatial uniqueness in physical layer channel responses, aiming to achieving fast authentication while minimising the packet transmission overhead. Our claims through extensive analysis and simulation will be verified via comparing with public key infrastructure-based PLAA scheme and traditional upper layer authentication schemes.