scholarly journals Secure PHY Layer Key Generation in the Asymmetric Power Line Communication Channel

Electronics ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Passerini ◽  
Andrea M. Tonello
Keyword(s):  
Communication Channel ◽  
Physical Layer ◽  
Power Line ◽  
Power Line Communication ◽  
Key Generation ◽  
Secret Key ◽  
Privacy And Security ◽  
Common Information ◽  
Secret Keys ◽  
Asymmetric Power

Leakage of information in power line communication (PLC) networks is a threat to privacy and security. A way to enhance security is to encode the transmitted information with the use of a secret key. If the communication channel exhibits common characteristics at both ends and these are unknown to a potential eavesdropper, then it is possible to locally generate a common secret key at the two communication ends without the need for sharing it through the broadcast channel. This is known as physical layer key generation. To this aim, known techniques have been developed exploiting the transfer function of symmetric channels. However, the PLC channel is in general not symmetric, but just reciprocal. Therefore, in this paper, we first analyze the characteristics of the channel to verify whether physical layer key generation can be implemented. Then, we propose two novel methods that exploit the reciprocity of the PLC channel to generate common information by the two intended users. This information is processed through different quantization techniques to generate secret keys locally. To assess the security of the generated keys, we analyze the spatial correlation of PLC channels. This allows verifying whether the eavesdropper’s channels are weakly correlated with the intended users’ channel. Consequently, it is found that the information leaked to a possible eavesdropper has very low correlation to the locally generated key. The analysis and proposed methods are validated on a measurement dataset.

scholarly journals Physical Layer Key Generation in 5G and Beyond Wireless Communications: Challenges and Opportunities

Entropy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guyue Li ◽  
Chen Sun ◽  
Junqing Zhang ◽  
Eduard Jorswieck ◽  
Bin Xiao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wireless Communications ◽  
Communication Systems ◽  
Multiple Input Multiple Output ◽  
Key Distribution ◽  
Physical Layer ◽  
Sensitive Information ◽  
Key Generation ◽  
Secret Key ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Secret Keys

The fifth generation (5G) and beyond wireless communications will transform many exciting applications and trigger massive data connections with private, confidential, and sensitive information. The security of wireless communications is conventionally established by cryptographic schemes and protocols in which the secret key distribution is one of the essential primitives. However, traditional cryptography-based key distribution protocols might be challenged in the 5G and beyond communications because of special features such as device-to-device and heterogeneous communications, and ultra-low latency requirements. Channel reciprocity-based key generation (CRKG) is an emerging physical layer-based technique to establish secret keys between devices. This article reviews CRKG when the 5G and beyond networks employ three candidate technologies: duplex modes, massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) and mmWave communications. We identify the opportunities and challenges for CRKG and provide corresponding solutions. To further demonstrate the feasibility of CRKG in practical communication systems, we overview existing prototypes with different IoT protocols and examine their performance in real-world environments. This article shows the feasibility and promising performances of CRKG with the potential to be commercialized.

A Novel Secret Key Generation Method in OFDM System for Physical Layer Security

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wang Dong ◽  
Hu Aiqun ◽  
Peng Linning
Keyword(s):  
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing ◽  
Data Extraction ◽  
Gray Code ◽  
Extraction Process ◽  
Physical Layer ◽  
Key Generation ◽  
Ofdm Systems ◽  
Secret Key ◽  
Randomness Test ◽  
Secret Keys

In this paper, a novel physical layer key generation method for extracting secret key from mutual channel information in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems has been proposed. Firstly, a well-designed data extraction process has been introduced to reduce the redundancy and inconsistency of channel state information (CSI). After that, a new quantization method using gray code is proposed. Furthermore, an associated method is designed to reduce key error rate (KER). With these improvements, higher key generation rate (KGR) can be obtained compared to existing methods. Finally, available secret keys have been generated after information reconciliation and privacy amplification. The proposed method has been analyzed and verified in long term evolution advanced (LTE-A) systems and the generated secret keys have passed randomness test.

scholarly journals Higher Rate Secret Key Formation (HRKF) based on Physical Layer for Securing Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-160
Author(s):  
Inka Trisna Dewi ◽  
Amang Sudarsono ◽  
Prima Kristalina ◽  
Mike Yuliana
Keyword(s):  
Polynomial Regression ◽  
Formation Rate ◽  
Physical Layer ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Secret Key ◽  
Vehicle Communication ◽  
V2v Communication ◽  
Vehicle To Vehicle ◽  
Secret Keys ◽  
Shared Secret

One effort to secure vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication is to use a symmetrical cryptographic scheme that requires the distribution of shared secret keys. To reduce attacks on key distribution, physical layer-based key formation schemes that utilize the characteristics of wireless channels have been implemented. However, existing schemes still produce a low bit formation rate (BFR) even though they can reach a low bit error rate (BER). Note that V2V communication requires a scheme with high BFR in order to fulfill its main goal of improving road safety. In this research, we propose a higher rate secret key formation (HRKF) scheme using received signal strength (RSS) as a source of random information. The focus of this research is to produce keys with high BFR without compromising BER. To reduce bit mismatch, we propose a polynomial regression method that can increase channel reciprocity. We also propose a fixed threshold quantization (FTQ) method to maintain the number of bits so that the BFR increases. The test results show that the HRKF scheme can increase BFR from 40% up to 100% compared to existing research schemes. To ensure the key cannot be guessed by the attacker, the HRKF scheme succeeds in producing a key that meets the randomness of the NIST test.

MIMO-Based Secret Key Generation Strategies

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 22-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kan Chen ◽  
Bala Natarajan
Keyword(s):  
Key Management ◽  
Multiple Input Multiple Output ◽  
Key Generation ◽  
Secret Key ◽  
Secret Key Generation ◽  
Cooperative Mimo ◽  
Multiple Input ◽  
Secret Keys ◽  
Input Multiple Output ◽  
Network Technologies

Over the last decade, physical layer secret key generation (PHY-SKG) techniques that exploit reciprocity of wireless channels have attracted considerable interest among researchers in the field of wireless communication. Compared to traditional cryptographic methods, PHY-SKG techniques offer the following advantages: a computationally bounded adversary does not need to be assumed; PHY-SKG avoids the requirement of key management, and secret keys can be dynamically replenished. Additionally, PHY-SKG can enhance existing security schemes because it operates independently of higher layer security schemes. However, a key drawback of PHY-SKG is low secret key generation rate (SKGR), a critical performance metric. Therefore, the role of advanced network technologies (e.g., multiple input multiple output (MIMO) and cooperative MIMO) must be explored to enhance SKGR. This paper describes how MIMO and cooperative MIMO techniques can enhance SKGR.

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