Cloned Access Point Detection and Point Detection and Prevention Mechanism in IEEE 802.11 Wireless Mesh Networks

IEEE 802.11 Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) is an emerging low cost, decentralized community-based broadband technology, which is based on self-healing and multi-hop deployment of Access Points (APs), so that to increase the coverage area with maximum freedom to end-users to join or leave the network from anywhere anytime having low deployment and maintenance cost. Such kind of decentralized structure and multihop architecture increases its security vulnerabilities especially against the APs. One of such possible security attack is the placement of cloned AP to create serious performance degradation in IEEE 802.11 WMN. In this paper, we discuss the different security vulnerabilities of AP in IEEE 802.11 WMN along with possible research directions. We also propose a mutual cooperation mechanism between the multi-hop APs and serving gateway so that to detect and prevent the possibility of cloned AP. In this way the large scale exploitation of IEEE 802.11 WMN can be eliminated

Common security issues and challenges in wireless sensor networks and IEEE 802.11 wireless mesh networks

Both Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) and Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) are multi-hop wireless networks. WMN is an emerging community based integrated broadband wireless network which ensures high bandwidth ubiquitous internet provision to users, while, WSN is application specific and ensures large scale real-time data processing in complex environment. Both these wireless networks have some common vulnerable features which may increase the chances of different sorts of security attacks. Wireless sensor nodes have computation, memory and power limitations, which do not allow for implementation of complex security mechanism. In this paper, we discuss the common limitations and vulnerable features of WMN and WSN, along with the associated security threats and possible countermeasures. We also propose security mechanisms keeping in view the architecture and limitations of both. This article will serve as a baseline guide for the new researchers who are concern with the security aspects of WMN and WSN

Denial of service attacks and challenges in broadband wireless networks

Broadband wireless networks are providing internet and related services to end users. The three most important broadband wireless technologies are IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.16, and Wireless Mesh Network (WMN). Security attacks and vulnerabilities vary amongst these broadband wireless networks because of differences in topologies, network operations and physical setups. Amongst the various security risks, Denial of Service (DoS) attack is the most severe security threat, as DoS can compromise the availability and integrity of broadband wireless network. In this paper, we present DoS attack issues in broadband wireless networks, along with possible defenses and future directions

A Survey on Communication Networks for Electric System Automation

Published in Computer Networks 50 (2006) 877–897, an Elsevier journal. The definitive version of this publication is available from Science Direct. Digital Object Identifier:10.1016/j.comnet.2006.01.005In today’s competitive electric utility marketplace, reliable and real-time information become the key factor for reliable delivery of power to the end-users, profitability of the electric utility and customer satisfaction. The operational and commercial demands of electric utilities require a high-performance data communication network that supports both existing functionalities and future operational requirements. In this respect, since such a communication network constitutes the core of the electric system automation applications, the design of a cost-effective and reliable network architecture is crucial. In this paper, the opportunities and challenges of a hybrid network architecture are discussed for electric system automation. More specifically, Internet based Virtual Private Networks, power line communications, satellite communications and wireless communications (wireless sensor networks, WiMAX and wireless mesh networks) are described in detail. The motivation of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the hybrid network architecture that can provide heterogeneous electric system automation application requirements. In this regard, our aim is to present a structured framework for electric utilities who plan to utilize new communication technologies for automation and hence, to make the decision making process more effective and direct.This work was supported by NEETRAC under Project #04-157

Passive security threats and consequences in IEEE 802.11 wireless mesh networks

The Wireless Mesh Network (WMN) is ubiquitous emerging broadband wireless network. However, the open wireless medium, multi-hop multi-radio architecture and ad-hoc connectivity amongst end-users are such characteristics which increases the vulnerabilities of WMN towards many passive and active attacks. A secure network ensures the confidentiality, integrity and availability of wireless network. Integrity and availability is compromised by active attacks, while the confidentiality of end-users traffic is compromised by passive attacks. Passive attacks are silent in nature and do not harm the network traffic or normal network operations, therefore very difficult to detect. However, passive attacks lay down a foundation for later launching an active attack. In this article, we discuss the vulnerable features and possible passive threats in WMN along with current security mechanisms as well as future research directions. This article will serve as a baseline guide for the passive security threats and related issues in WMNs

Analysis and mitigation of interference in multi-radio multi-channel wireless mesh networks

Ankara : The Department of Computer Engineering and the Graduate School of Engineering and Science of Bilkent Univ., 2013.Thesis (Ph. D.) -- Bilkent University, 2013.Includes bibliographical references leaves 162-170.Wireless mesh networking, which is basically forming a backbone network of mesh routers using wireless links, is becoming increasingly popular for a broad range of applications from last-mile broadband access to disaster networking or P2P communications, because of its easy deployment, self-forming, self-configuration, and self-healing properties. The multi-hop nature of wireless mesh networks (WMNs) aggravates inter-flow interference and causes intra-flow interference and severely limits the network capacity. One technique to mitigate interference and increase network capacity is to equip the mesh routers with multiple radios and use multiple channels. The radios of a mesh router can then simultaneously send or receive packets on different wireless channels. However, careful and intelligent radio resource planning, including flow-radio and channel assignment, is necessary to efficiently make use of multiple radios and channels. This first requires analyzing and modeling the nature of co-channel and adjacent channel interference in a WMN. Through real-world experiments and observations made in an indoor multihop multi-radio 802.11b/g mesh networking testbed we established, BilMesh, we first analyze and model the nature of co-channel and adjacent channel interference. We conduct extensive experiments on this testbed to understand the effects of using multi-radio, multi-channel relay nodes in terms of network and application layer performance metrics. We also report our results on using overlapping in addition to orthogonal channels for the radios of the mesh routers. We then turn our attention to modeling and quantifying adjacent channel interference. Extending BilMesh with IEEE 802.15.4 nodes, we propose computational methods to quantify interference between channels of a wireless communication standard and between channels of two different standards (such as Wi-Fi and ZigBee). Majority of the studies in the literature on channel assignment consider only orthogonal channels for the radios of a multi-radio WMN. Having developed quantitative models of interference, next we propose two optimization models, which use overlapping channels, for the joint flow-radio and channel assignment problems in WMNs. Then we propose efficient centralized and distributed heuristic algorithms for coupling flows and assigning channels to the radios of a WMN. The proposed centralized and distributed schemes make use of overlapping channels to increase spectrum utilization. Using solid interference and capacity metrics, we evaluate the performances of the proposed schemes via extensive simulation experiments, and we observe that our schemes can achieve substantial improvement over single-channel and random flow-radio and channel assignment schemes.Uluçınar, Alper RifatPh.D

Latency Optimal Broadcasting in Noisy Wireless Mesh Networks

In this paper, we adopt a new noisy wireless network model introduced very recently by Censor-Hillel et al. in [ACM PODC 2017, CHHZ17]. More specifically, for a given noise parameter $p\in [0,1],$ any sender has a probability of $p$ of transmitting noise or any receiver of a single transmission in its neighborhood has a probability $p$ of receiving noise. In this paper, we first propose a new asymptotically latency-optimal approximation algorithm (under faultless model) that can complete single-message broadcasting task in $D+O(\log^2 n)$ time units/rounds in any WMN of size $n,$ and diameter $D$. We then show this diameter-linear broadcasting algorithm remains robust under the noisy wireless network model and also improves the currently best known result in CHHZ17 by a $\Theta(\log\log n)$ factor. In this paper, we also further extend our robust single-message broadcasting algorithm to $k$ multi-message broadcasting scenario and show it can broadcast $k$ messages in $O(D+k\log n+\log^2 n)$ time rounds. This new robust multi-message broadcasting scheme is not only asymptotically optimal but also answers affirmatively the problem left open in CHHZ17 on the existence of an algorithm that is robust to sender and receiver faults and can broadcast $k$ messages in $O(D+k\log n + polylog(n))$ time rounds.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1705.07369 by other author