Support of physical layer security in wireless local area networks

• US 8,433,894 B2
• Filed: 07/08/2009
• Issued: 04/30/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/08/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Inventors: Reznik, Alexander, Levy, Joseph S., Shah, Yogendra C., Mathur, Suhas
• Primary Examiner(s): ARMOUCHE, HADI S
• Application Number:
  US12/499,530
• Publication Number:
  US 20100131751A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,392 Days
• Field of Search: 713150-151, 370/252
• US Class Current: 713/151
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1408 by monitoring network traffic monitoring network traffic per se H04L43/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/16 Implementing security features at a particular protocol layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/122 Counter-measures against attacks; Protection against rogue devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/125 Protection against power exhaustion attacks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/126 Anti-theft arrangements, e.g. protection against subscriber identity module [SIM] cloning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for performing physical layer security operation are disclosed. A physical layer performs measurements continuously, and reports the measurements to a medium access control (MAC) layer. The MAC layer processes the measurements, and sends a security alert to a security manager upon detection of an abnormal condition based on the measurements. The security manager implements a counter-measure upon receipt of the security alert. The measurements include channel impulse response (CIR), physical medium power measurement, automatic gain control (AGC) value and status, automatic frequency control (AFC) gain and status, analog-to-digital converter (ADC) gain, Doppler spread estimate, and/or short preamble matched filter output. The security manager may switch a channel, switch a channel hopping policy, change a back-off protocol, or change a beamforming vector upon reception of the security alert.

Claims

1. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) device comprising:

a processor;

a computer-readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions which, when executed by the processor, implement at least one of a physical layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and a security manager;

the physical layer configured to receive a burst, perform measurements continuously, and report the measurements to the MAC layer to enable physical layer security;

the MAC layer configured to process the measurements received from the physical layer, detect a potential attack based on the measurements, and send a security alert to the security manager upon detection of the potential attack; and

the security manager configured to implement a counter-measure to the potential attack upon receipt of the security alert from the MAC layer to establish the physical layer security,

wherein the measurement includes a channel impulse response (CIR), and the WTRU device further comprising;

a database configured to associate a source MAC address of a received packet and the CIR measured on the burst carrying the packet, wherein the MAC layer is configured to check consistency of the source MAC address-CIR pair and detect the potential attack on a condition that the source MAC address-CIR pair is not consistent.

2. The WTRU device of claim 1 wherein the measurements further include at least one of physical medium power measurement, automatic gain control (AGC) value and status, automatic frequency control (AFC) gain and status, analog-to-digital converter (ADC) gain, Doppler spread estimate, or short preamble matched filter output.

3. The WTRU device of claim 2 wherein the physical layer is configured to report the physical medium power measurement to the MAC layer at a rate configured by a higher layer.

4. The WTRU device of claim 3 wherein the MAC layer is configured to perform statistical processing on the physical medium power measurement and detect a low-power jammer attack on a condition that it is determined based on the physical medium power measurement that an unlike collision occurs repeatedly.

5. The WTRU device of claim 1 wherein the security manager is configured to switch a channel upon reception of the security alert.

6. The WTRU device of claim 1 wherein the security manager is configured to switch a channel hopping policy upon reception of the security alert to establish the physical layer security.

7. The WTRU device of claim 1 wherein the security manager is configured to change a back-off protocol upon reception of the security alert to establish the physical layer security.

8. The WTRU device of claim 1 wherein the security manager is configured to change a beamforming vector upon reception of the security alert to establish the physical layer security.

9. A method comprising:

a physical layer performing physical layer measurements continuously;

the physical layer reporting the measurements to a medium access control (MAC) layer to enable physical layer security;

the MAC layer processing the measurements;

the MAC layer sending a security alert to a security manager upon detection of a potential attack based on the measurements; and

the security manager implementing a counter-measure to the potential attack upon receipt of the security alert from the MAC layer to establish the physical layer security,

wherein the measurement includes a channel impulse response (CIR), and the method further comprising;

storing the CIR in a database, the CIR being associated with a source MAC address of a received packet; and

checking consistency of a source MAC address-CIR pair, wherein the potential attack is detected on a condition that the source MAC address-CIR pair is not consistent.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the measurements further include at least one of physical medium power measurement, automatic gain control (AGC) value and status, automatic frequency control (AFC) gain and status, analog-to-digital converter (ADC) gain, Doppler spread estimate, or short preamble matched filter output.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the physical layer reports the physical medium power measurement at a rate configured by a higher layer.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the MAC layer performs statistical processing on the physical medium power measurement and detects a low-power jammer attack on a condition that it is determined based on the physical medium power measurement that an unlike collision occurs repeatedly.

13. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

switching a channel upon reception of the security alert to establish the physical layer security.

14. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

switching a channel hopping policy upon reception of the security alert to establish the physical layer security.

15. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

changing a back-off protocol upon reception of the security alert to establish the physical layer security.

16. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

changing a beamforming vector upon reception of the security alert to establish the physical layer security.

17. A wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) device comprising:

a processor;

a computer-readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions which, when executed by the processor, implement at least one of a physical layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and a security manager;

the physical layer configured to receive a burst, perform measurements continuously, and report the measurements to the layer to enable physical layer security;

the MAC layer configured to process the measurements received from the physical layer, detect a potential attack based on the measurements, and produce a security-related quantity; and

the security manager configured to use the security-related quantity or provide the security-related quantity to another entity to implement a counter-measure to the potential attack and establish the physical layer security,

wherein the measurement includes a channel impulse response (CIR), and the WTRU device further comprising;

a database configured to associate a source MAC address of a received packet and the CIR measured on the burst carrying the packet, wherein the MAC layer is configured to check consistency of the source MAC address-CIR pair and detect the potential attack on a condition that the source MAC address-CIR pair is not consistent.

18. The WTRU device of claim 17 wherein the MAC layer is configured to communicate with a MAC entity of at least one other entity.

19. The WTRU device of claim 17 wherein the measurements include at least one of physical medium power measurement, automatic gain control (AGC) value and status, automatic frequency control (AFC) gain and status, analog-to-digital converter (ADC) gain, Doppler spread estimate, or short preamble matched filter output.

20. The WTRU device of claim 17 wherein the security-related quantity is a source signature or a pairwise security key.

21. A method comprising:

a physical layer performing physical layer measurements continuously;

the physical layer reporting the measurements to a medium access control (MAC) layer to enable physical layer security;

the MAC layer processing the measurements received from the physical layer;

the MAC layer detecting a potential attack based on the measurements and producing a security-related quantity; and

a security manager using the security-related quantity or providing the security-related quantity to another entity to implement a counter-measure to the potential attack and establish the physical layer security,

wherein the measurement includes a channel impulse response (CIR), and the WTRU device further comprising;

a database configured to associate a source MAC address of a received packet and the CIR measured on the burst carrying the packet, wherein the MAC layer is configured to check consistency of the source MAC address-CIR pair and detect the potential attack on a condition that the source MAC address-CIR pair is not consistent.

22. The method of claim 21 further comprising the MAC layer communicating with a MAC entity of at least one other entity.

23. The method of claim 21 wherein the measurements further include at least one of physical medium power measurement, automatic gain control (AGC) value and status, automatic frequency control (AFC) gain and status, analog-to-digital converter (ADC) gain, Doppler spread estimate, or short preamble matched filter output.

24. The method of claim 21 wherein the security-related quantity is a source signature or a pairwise security key.