A novel multi-fold security framework for cognitive radio wireless ad-hoc networks

Cognitive Radio (CR) Technology has emerged as a smart and intelligent technology to address the problem of spectrum scarcity and its under-utilization. CR nodes sense the environment for vacant channels, exchange control information, and agree upon free channels list (FCL) to use for data transmission and conclusion. CR technology is heavily dependent on the control channel to dialogue on the exchanged control information which is usually in the Industrial-Scientific-Medical (ISM) band. As the ISM band is publically available this makes the CR network more prone to security vulnerabilities and flaws. In this paper a novel multi-fold security framework for cognitive radio wireless ad-hoc networks has been proposed. Multiple security levels, such as, encryption of beacon frame and privately exchanging the FCL, and the dynamic and adaptive behaviour of the framework makes the proposed protocol more resilient and secure against the traditional security attacks when compared with existing protocols

Distributed Clustering in Cognitive Radio Ad Hoc Networks Using Soft-Constraint Affinity Propagation

Absence of network infrastructure and heterogeneous spectrum availability in cognitive radio ad hoc networks (CRAHNs) necessitate the self-organization of cognitive radio users (CRs) for efficient spectrum coordination. The cluster-based structure is known to be effective in both guaranteeing system performance and reducing communication overhead in variable network environment. In this paper, we propose a distributed clustering algorithm based on soft-constraint affinity propagation message passing model (DCSCAP). Without dependence on predefined common control channel (CCC), DCSCAP relies on the distributed message passing among CRs through their available channels, making the algorithm applicable for large scale networks. Different from original soft-constraint affinity propagation algorithm, the maximal iterations of message passing is controlled to a relatively small number to accommodate to the dynamic environment of CRAHNs. Based on the accumulated evidence for clustering from the message passing process, clusters are formed with the objective of grouping the CRs with similar spectrum availability into smaller number of clusters while guaranteeing at least one CCC in each cluster. Extensive simulation results demonstrate the preference of DCSCAP compared with existing algorithms in both efficiency and robustness of the clusters

DDH-MAC: a novel dynamic de-centralized hybrid MAC protocol for cognitive radio networks

The radio spectrum (3kHz - 300GHz) has become saturated and proven to be insufficient to address the proliferation of new wireless applications. Cognitive Radio Technology which is an opportunistic network and is equipped with fully programmable wireless devices that empowers the network by OODA cycle and then make intelligent decisions by adapting their MAC and physical layer characteristics such as waveform, has appeared to be the only solution for current low spectrum availability and under utilization problem. In this paper a novel Dynamic De-Centralized Hybrid “DDH-MAC” protocol for Cognitive Radio Networks has been presented which lies between Global Common Control Channel (GCCC) and non-GCCC categories of cognitive radio MAC protocols. DDH-MAC is equipped with the best features of GCCC MAC protocols but also overcomes the saturation and security issues in GCCC. To the best of authors' knowledge, DDH-MAC is the first protocol which is hybrid between GCCC and non-GCCC family of protocols. DDH-MAC provides multiple levels of security and partially use GCCC to transmit beacon which sets and announces local control channel for exchange of free channel list (FCL) sensed by the co-operatively communicating cognitive radio nodes, subsequently providing secure transactions among participating nodes over the decided local control channel. This paper describes the framework of the DDH-MAC protocol in addition to its pseudo code for implementation; it is shown that the pre-transmission time for DDH-MAC is on average 20% better while compared to other cognitive radio MAC protocols

Cognitive Radio Network with a distributed control channel and quality-of-service solution

The proliferation of wireless access and applications to the Internet and the advent of a myriad of highly evolved portable communication devices; creates the need for an efficiently utilized radio spectrum. This is paramount in the licensed and unlicensed radio frequency bands, that spawn an exponential growth in Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA) research, Cognitive Radio (CR) and Cognitive Radio Networks (CRN) research. DSA research has given way to the paradigm shift toward CR with its dynamic changes in transmission schemas. This paradigm shift from a fixed and centralized frequency spectrum environment has morphed into a dynamic and decentralized one. CR provides wireless nodes the capability to adapt and exploit the frequency spectrum. The spectrum information obtained is scanned and updated to determine the channel quality for viability and a utilization/availability by the licensed (primary) user. To take advantage of the CR capabilities, previous research has focused on a Common Control Channel(CCC) for the control signals to be used for spectrum control. This utilization generates channel saturation, extreme transmission overhead of control information, and a point of vulnerability. The traditional designs for wireless routing protocols do not support an ad hoc multi-hop cognitive radio network model. This research focuses on a real world implementation of a heterogeneous ad hoc multi-hop Cognitive Radio Network. An overall model, coined Emerald, has been designed to address the architecture; the Medium Access Control layer, E-MAC; and the network layer, E-NET. First, a Medium Access Control(MAC) layer protocol is provided to avoid the pitfalls of a common control channel. This new design provides CRNs with network topology and channel utilization information. Spectrum etiquette, in turn, addresses channel saturation, control overhead, and the single point of vulnerability. Secondly, a routing model is proposed that will address the efficiency of an ad hoc multi-hop CRN with a focus on the Quality-of-Service(QoS) of the point-to-point as well as end-to-end communication. This research has documented weaknesses in spectrum utilization; it has been expanded to accommodate a distributed control environment. Subsets of the model will be validated through Network Simulator-2(NS/2) and MatLab© simulations to determine point-to-point and end-to-end communications

A novel MAC Protocol for Cognitive Radio Networks

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy from the University of BedfordshireThe scarcity of bandwidth in the radio spectrum has become more vital since the demand for wireless applications has increased. Most of the spectrum bands have been allocated although many studies have shown that these bands are significantly underutilized most of the time. The problem of unavailability of spectrum bands and the inefficiency in their utilization have been smartly addressed by the cognitive radio (CR) technology which is an opportunistic network that senses the environment, observes the network changes, and then uses knowledge gained from the prior interaction with the network to make intelligent decisions by dynamically adapting transmission characteristics. In this thesis, recent research and survey about the advances in theory and applications of cognitive radio technology has been reviewed. The thesis starts with the essential background on cognitive radio techniques and systems and discusses those characteristics of CR technology, such as standards, applications and challenges that all can help make software radio more personal. It then presents advanced level material by extensively reviewing the work done so far in the area of cognitive radio networks and more specifically in medium access control (MAC) protocol of CR. The list of references will be useful to both researchers and practitioners in this area. Also, it can be adopted as a graduate-level textbook for an advanced course on wireless communication networks. The development of new technologies such as Wi-Fi, cellular phones, Bluetooth, TV broadcasts and satellite has created immense demand for radio spectrum which is a limited natural resource ranging from 30KHz to 300GHz. For every wireless application, some portion of the radio spectrum needs to be purchased, and the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) allocates the spectrum for some fee for such services. This static allocation of the radio spectrum has led to various problems such as saturation in some bands, scarcity, and lack of radio resources to new wireless applications. Most of the frequencies in the radio spectrum have been allocated although many studies have shown that the allocated bands are not being used efficiently. The CR technology is one of the effective solutions to the shortage of spectrum and the inefficiency of its utilization. In this thesis, a detailed investigation on issues related to the protocol design for cognitive radio networks with particular emphasis on the MAC layer is presented. A novel Dynamic and Decentralized and Hybrid MAC (DDH-MAC) protocol that lies between the CR MAC protocol families of globally available common control channel (GCCC) and local control channel (non-GCCC). First, a multi-access channel MAC protocol, which integrates the best features of both GCCC and non-GCCC, is proposed. Second, an enhancement to the protocol is proposed by enabling it to access more than one control channel at the same time. The cognitive users/secondary users (SUs) always have access to one control channel and they can identify and exploit the vacant channels by dynamically switching across the different control channels. Third, rapid and efficient exchange of CR control information has been proposed to reduce delays due to the opportunistic nature of CR. We have calculated the pre-transmission time for CR and investigate how this time can have a significant effect on nodes holding a delay sensitive data. Fourth, an analytical model, including a Markov chain model, has been proposed. This analytical model will rigorously analyse the performance of our proposed DDH-MAC protocol in terms of aggregate throughput, access delay, and spectrum opportunities in both the saturated and non-saturated networks. Fifth, we develop a simulation model for the DDH-MAC protocol using OPNET Modeler and investigate its performance for queuing delays, bit error rates, backoff slots and throughput. It could be observed from both the numerical and simulation results that when compared with existing CR MAC protocols our proposed MAC protocol can significantly improve the spectrum utilization efficiency of wireless networks. Finally, we optimize the performance of our proposed MAC protocol by incorporating multi-level security and making it energy efficient

Data Gathering in Cognitive Radio Ad Hoc and Sensor Wireless Networks

Data gathering is a network communication task in which all of the network’s nodes send their individual messages to a distinguished sink node. In cognitive radio ad hoc and sensor wireless networks (CR-AHSWNs), unlicensed secondary users (SUs) opportunistically use channels when the licensed primary users are not using them. Therefore, the channels available to each SU vary with time and location, which makes the development of data gathering algorithms for CR-AHSWNs challenging. In this thesis, a data gathering protocol for CR-AHSWNs is proposed. The protocol consists of several distributed SU action selection and channel selection algorithms. An algorithm that can reduce the data gathering delay by selecting message forwarding SUs is also proposed. Finally, an algorithm that calculates an estimate of the successful data gathering ratio (SDGR) is proposed. The SDGR is affected by each SU’s channel availability and network collisions, and the exact value is extremely challenging to calculate

A Survey on Wireless Security: Technical Challenges, Recent Advances and Future Trends

This paper examines the security vulnerabilities and threats imposed by the inherent open nature of wireless communications and to devise efficient defense mechanisms for improving the wireless network security. We first summarize the security requirements of wireless networks, including their authenticity, confidentiality, integrity and availability issues. Next, a comprehensive overview of security attacks encountered in wireless networks is presented in view of the network protocol architecture, where the potential security threats are discussed at each protocol layer. We also provide a survey of the existing security protocols and algorithms that are adopted in the existing wireless network standards, such as the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and the long-term evolution (LTE) systems. Then, we discuss the state-of-the-art in physical-layer security, which is an emerging technique of securing the open communications environment against eavesdropping attacks at the physical layer. We also introduce the family of various jamming attacks and their counter-measures, including the constant jammer, intermittent jammer, reactive jammer, adaptive jammer and intelligent jammer. Additionally, we discuss the integration of physical-layer security into existing authentication and cryptography mechanisms for further securing wireless networks. Finally, some technical challenges which remain unresolved at the time of writing are summarized and the future trends in wireless security are discussed.Comment: 36 pages. Accepted to Appear in Proceedings of the IEEE, 201