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International Conference on Communications

On secret-key generation using wideband channels in mobile networks

Yuan Shen, Moe Z. Win

Published Jun 1, 2015• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Wireless networks are subject to security vulnerability due to the broadcasting nature of radio transmission. Information-theoretic approaches for secure communication propose to generate secret keys from a common source, such as reciprocal channels, available to the transmitter and receiver. However, such approaches assume the probability distribution of the sources, which may not be available in many realistic scenarios. In this paper, we establish an information-theoretic framework for secret-key generation (SKG) using noisy observations of unknown deterministic parameters (UDPs). Based on an axiomatic definition of UDPs, we derive a new metric called intrinsic information between the UDP and its observation, characterizing the rate of the secret key that can be generated from the observation. This metric is then applied to quantify the use of wideband channels in mobile networks for SKG. Our results provide a non-Bayesian perspective for SKG as well as its practical implications.

DOI
10.1109/icc.2015.7248974

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Wireless networks are subject to security vulnerability due to the broadcasting nature of radio transmission. Information-theoretic approaches for secure communication propose to generate secret keys from a common source, such as reciprocal channels, available to the transmitter and receiver. However, such approaches assume the probability distribution of the sources, which may not be available in many realistic scenarios. In this paper, we establish an information-theoretic framework for secret-key generation (SKG) using noisy observations of unknown deterministic parameters (UDPs). Based on an axiomatic definition of UDPs, we derive a new metric called intrinsic information between the UDP and its observation, characterizing the rate of the secret key that can be generated from the observation. This metric is then applied to quantify the use of wideband channels in mobile networks for SKG. Our results provide a non-Bayesian perspective for SKG as well as its practical implications.
The ability to exchange secret messages and protect against security attacks becomes increasingly important for providing information superiority and confidentiality in modern information systems. These systems require shared secret keys, which can be generated from common random sources with known distributions. However, the assumption on the distribution of the sources may not hold in many realistic scenarios. In this paper, we establish a mathematical framework for secret-key generation using common unknown deterministic sources (UDSs). In particular, we propose a new information measure called intrinsic information to characterize the achievable length of the secret key that can be generated from a UDS. As a case study, we consider a wideband propagation medium in mobile wireless networks as a UDS and derive its intrinsic information as a function of various network parameters. Our results provide a non-Bayesian perspective for secret-key generation as well as practical implications of this new perspective.
In this work we investigate the problem of secret key generation (SKG) between two communicating wireless devices, according to the physical-layer security paradigm. We propose a general framework for any communication channel or waveform. In details, we study a filterbank-based method, which allows the generation of secret security keys from a wideband radio channel, independently from the baseband modem implementation. We believe that channel awareness is of utmost importance to understand the applicability of SKG methods, i.e., knowing their secret bit-rate under different channel scenarios. For that purpose, we investigate the SKG performance by means of Monte Carlo simulations that collect radio channel statistics and obtain the SKG performance through mutual information numerical estimation.
Physical layer security (PLS) techniques hold promise for augmenting secure communications in the 5thgeneration of mobile wireless networks. Secret key generation (SKG) is a PLS technique which exploits the wireless propagation channel's randomness to generate symmetric key bits for information encryption and decryption. This work proposes symmetric key generation based on non-uniform quantization of the received signal strength (RSS) samples of a Nakagami-mmm fading channel. The proposed strategy for non-uniform quantization for SKG aims to set quantization thresholds for maximal key randomness and high values of key generation rate (KGR) and key agreement probability (KAP). Finally, a framework is proposed to use single node RSS measurements, readily available in the literature, to generate RSS samples at the other link end. This framework facilitates the testing of new SKG algorithms that require simultaneous RSS measurements by the legitimate nodes, which are not readily available in the open literature. The effectiveness of the proposed SKG scheme is validated through Monte Carlo methods and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) test suite for assessing the randomness of the generated key sequence.
The emergence of Internet of things (IoT) applications brings the challenge of finding lightweight schemes for secret key distribution. A promising solution coming from the physical layer is the so called secret key generation (SKG) from shared randomness. SKG allows two communicating parties to extract the shared randomness already present in wireless channels. This work investigates the achievable SKG rates using received signal strength (RSS) as a key generation parameter. A multi-path scenario is considered and the probability density function of the RSS in different channel conditions is evaluated. Next, through a numerical evaluation, the SKG rates are derived in the form of mutual information (MI) estimates, using a 3GPP standard channel model. The simulations are performed for different values of bandwidth and delay spread. We demonstrate that while both parameters have similar impact on how multi-path components are resolved, their effect on the MI is opposite.
The sixth generation of wireless networks (6G) is expected to support the deployment of Internet of things (IoT) devices in massive scales. Finding lightweight and decentralized secret-key distribution primitives is therefore a challenge. Secret-key generation (SKG) from wireless channel coefficients is seen as a possible solution. It allows the extraction of secret keys using the channel randomness observed at the physical layer, without a centralized key distribution server. In this work an SKG approach suitable for wideband IoT devices is proposed. We investigate a filterbank-based SKG method, in which secret bits are generated through power measurements over different frequencies. To minimize dependencies and correlation among frequencies the quantile and the Karhunen-Loeve transforms are used. Finally, we perform a numerical evaluation of the achievable SKG rates, in the form of mutual-information (MI) estimates, using 3GPP channel models. Our numerical evaluation shows that the achievable SKG rate depends on the channel statistics, and, hence, to optimally harvest the information, devices need to be channel-aware.
In wireless decentralized networks, security and privacy become more challenging due to stringent architecture and sometimes low-complexity constraints. Confidentiality of the transmissions is usually achieved by symmetric cryptography, which implies the distribution of identical secret keys to the legitimate nodes. Classical solutions for symmetric key distribution can be too complex from a computational or infrastructural point of view. An alternative would be physical layer key generation, which exploits the radio channel as a source of common information. This paper looks into the generation of secret keys from Impulse Radio - Ultra Wideband (IR-UWB) channels using low-power integrated devices. We investigate the possibility to generate identical secret bit sequences in practical environments (e.g., possibly occupied indoor rooms) and operating conditions (e.g., mobility) under specific hardware limitations inherent to device integration (e.g., time resolution and signal dynamics). The main challenge is to obtain reciprocal and random bits at an acceptable rate. Taking into account these three criteria (i.e., reciprocity, randomness, and key length), we describe and evaluate a new quantization scheme adapted to the channel impulse responses acquired by real devices.