AUTHENTICATION AND AUTHORIZATION OF COGNITIVE RADIO DEVICES

• US 20130303128A1
• Filed: 01/12/2012
• Published: 11/14/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Wang, Jianfeng, Ghosh, Monisha
• Granted Patent: US 9,313,659 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/411
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5058 Service discovery by the service manager
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0876 based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/025 using location based information parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/02 Access restriction performed under specific conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/02 Data link layer protocols

Abstract

A method (300) of authentication and authorization of cognitive radio devices comprises generating a registration request message (S320); sending the registration request to a spectrum manager;receiving a registration response message from the spectrum manager (S330); generating an authorization request message (S360); upon receiving of an authorization response message, generating a verification response message (S370); and sending the verification response message to the cognitive radio device to be authenticated, such that the cognitive radio device is authenticated and authorized to communicate on channels designated in the verification response message (S380).

Claims

1. A method for authenticating and authorizing a plurality of cognitive radio devices, comprising:

generating, by an intermediate cognitive radio device, a registration request message that includes an identifier and a location of the intermediate cognitive radio device, wherein the registration request message also includes a location and an identifier of a cognitive radio device to be authenticated;

sending, by the intermediate cognitive radio device, the registration request message to a spectrum manager;

receiving, by the intermediate cognitive radio device, a registration response message that includes an encrypted authentication signal that can be decoded by the cognitive radio device;

generating, by the intermediate cognitive radio device, an authorization request message that includes an authentication signal decrypted from the encrypted authentication signal received from the cognitive radio device;

upon receiving an authorization response message from the spectrum manager, generating, by the intermediate cognitive radio device, a verification response message that includes at least a list of available channels and transmission power limits set for the cognitive radio device; and

sending, by the intermediate cognitive radio device, the verification response message to the cognitive radio device, such that the cognitive radio device is authenticated and authorized to communicate on channels designated in the verification response message.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the intermediate cognitive radio device, an association request message from the cognitive radio device that includes at least one of the identifier, the location and a medium access control (MAC) address of the cognitive radio device; and

prior to generating the authorization request message, receiving by intermediate cognitive radio device, a verification request message that includes at least a decrypted authentication signal generated by decrypting the authentication signal in the association response message using a private key of the cognitive radio device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

periodically generating and sending, by the intermediate cognitive radio device, a secure sync information element (IE) to the cognitive radio device; and

periodically generating and sending, by the intermediate cognitive radio device, a refresh request message to the spectrum manager.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the secure sync IE is transmitted in at least one of a beacon and a quiet period of a superframe.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the secure sync IE comprises an element identifier (ID), a length, a multicast ID, a channel set ID, and a channel set IE, wherein the multicast ID designates a multicast group that includes a plurality of cognitive radio devices associated with the first device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the channel set ID and the channel set IE are encrypted, and wherein the cognitive radio device decrypts the channel set IE if the cognitive radio device belongs to the multicast group designated in the multicast ID.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the channel set IE includes an element identifier (ID) field, a length field, a regulatory domain, number of permissible channels for transmissions (440), and for each permissible channel a subfield indicating a channel number and a subfield indicating a transmission power limit for a channel.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the authorization response message is generated by the spectrum manager if the authentication signal included in the authorization request message matches a decrypted copy of the authentication signal included in the registration response message.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the cognitive radio device is at least one slave device associated with the intermediate cognitive radio device that communicates with the spectrum manager.

10. A cognitive radio device for authenticating and authorizing a plurality of cognitive radio slave devices operable in a wireless network, comprising:

a memory unit including at least a read-only memory portion for storing an identity and a private security key of the cognitive radio device, the memory unit further storing a list of the associated cognitive radio slave devices;

a processor for;

generating a registration request message that includes an identifier and a location of the cognitive radio device, wherein the registration request message also includes a location and an identifier of a cognitive radio slave device to be authenticated;

generating an authorization request message that includes an authentication signal decrypted from the encrypted authentication signal received from the cognitive radio slave device; and

upon receiving an authorization response message from a spectrum manager, generating a verification response message that includes at least a list of available channels and transmission power limits set for the cognitive radio slave device; and

a communication module for;

sending the registration request message to the spectrum manager;

receiving a registration response message that includes an encrypted authentication signal that can be decoded by the cognitive radio slave device;

sending the verification response message to the cognitive radio slave device, such that the cognitive radio slave device is authenticated and authorized to communicate on channels designated in the verification response message.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein the registration request message includes an identifier and location of the cognitive radio device, the registration request message includes a location and an identifier of each of the associated cognitive radio slave devices, the authorization request message includes a decrypted authentication signal of each of the associated cognitive radio slave devices, the verification response message includes at least a list of permissible channels and transmission power limits set for each of the associated cognitive radio slave devices, the secure sync IE includes at least an updated list of the permissible channels and the transmission power limits set for each of the associated cognitive radio slave devices, and the refresh request message for requesting the updated list of permissible channels and transmission power limits.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the wireless network is at least one of an Ecma 392 based wireless network, an IEEE 802.22 based wireless network, and an IEEE 802.11 based wireless network.

13. A spectrum manager for authenticating and authorizing a cognitive radio device in a cognitive-based wireless network, comprising:

a database for storing an identity, characteristics, a list of permissible channels, corresponding security keys and transmission power limits defined for each cognitive radio device;

a processor for generating at least a registration response message, an authorization response message, and a refresh response message, wherein the registration response message includes at least an encrypted authentication signal, the authorization response message is generated if the authentication signal included in an authorization request message matches a decrypted copy of the authentication signal included in the registration response message, and the refresh response message includes at least an updated list of the permissible channels; and

a communication module for exchanging the generated messages with one or more cognitive radio devices operable as a master device.