408 research outputs found
Lightweight Security for Network Coding
Under the emerging network coding paradigm, intermediate nodes in the network
are allowed not only to store and forward packets but also to process and mix
different data flows. We propose a low-complexity cryptographic scheme that
exploits the inherent security provided by random linear network coding and
offers the advantage of reduced overhead in comparison to traditional
end-to-end encryption of the entire data. Confidentiality is achieved by
protecting (or "locking") the source coefficients required to decode the
encoded data, without preventing intermediate nodes from running their standard
network coding operations. Our scheme can be easily combined with existing
techniques that counter active attacks.Comment: Proc. of the IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC
2008), Beijing, China, May 200
Network Information Flow with Correlated Sources
In this paper, we consider a network communications problem in which multiple
correlated sources must be delivered to a single data collector node, over a
network of noisy independent point-to-point channels. We prove that perfect
reconstruction of all the sources at the sink is possible if and only if, for
all partitions of the network nodes into two subsets S and S^c such that the
sink is always in S^c, we have that H(U_S|U_{S^c}) < \sum_{i\in S,j\in S^c}
C_{ij}. Our main finding is that in this setup a general source/channel
separation theorem holds, and that Shannon information behaves as a classical
network flow, identical in nature to the flow of water in pipes. At first
glance, it might seem surprising that separation holds in a fairly general
network situation like the one we study. A closer look, however, reveals that
the reason for this is that our model allows only for independent
point-to-point channels between pairs of nodes, and not multiple-access and/or
broadcast channels, for which separation is well known not to hold. This
``information as flow'' view provides an algorithmic interpretation for our
results, among which perhaps the most important one is the optimality of
implementing codes using a layered protocol stack.Comment: Final version, to appear in the IEEE Transactions on Information
Theory -- contains (very) minor changes based on the last round of review
Network Information Flow in Small World Networks
Recent results from statistical physics show that large classes of complex
networks, both man-made and of natural origin, are characterized by high
clustering properties yet strikingly short path lengths between pairs of nodes.
This class of networks are said to have a small-world topology. In the context
of communication networks, navigable small-world topologies, i.e. those which
admit efficient distributed routing algorithms, are deemed particularly
effective, for example in resource discovery tasks and peer-to-peer
applications. Breaking with the traditional approach to small-world topologies
that privileges graph parameters pertaining to connectivity, and intrigued by
the fundamental limits of communication in networks that exploit this type of
topology, we investigate the capacity of these networks from the perspective of
network information flow. Our contribution includes upper and lower bounds for
the capacity of standard and navigable small-world models, and the somewhat
surprising result that, with high probability, random rewiring does not alter
the capacity of a small-world network.Comment: 23 pages, 8 fitures, submitted to the IEEE Transactions on
Information Theory, November 200
Algebraic Watchdog: Mitigating Misbehavior in Wireless Network Coding
We propose a secure scheme for wireless network coding, called the algebraic
watchdog. By enabling nodes to detect malicious behaviors probabilistically and
use overheard messages to police their downstream neighbors locally, the
algebraic watchdog delivers a secure global self-checking network. Unlike
traditional Byzantine detection protocols which are receiver-based, this
protocol gives the senders an active role in checking the node downstream. The
key idea is inspired by Marti et al.'s watchdog-pathrater, which attempts to
detect and mitigate the effects of routing misbehavior.
As an initial building block of a such system, we first focus on a two-hop
network. We present a graphical model to understand the inference process nodes
execute to police their downstream neighbors; as well as to compute, analyze,
and approximate the probabilities of misdetection and false detection. In
addition, we present an algebraic analysis of the performance using an
hypothesis testing framework that provides exact formulae for probabilities of
false detection and misdetection.
We then extend the algebraic watchdog to a more general network setting, and
propose a protocol in which we can establish trust in coded systems in a
distributed manner. We develop a graphical model to detect the presence of an
adversarial node downstream within a general multi-hop network. The structure
of the graphical model (a trellis) lends itself to well-known algorithms, such
as the Viterbi algorithm, which can compute the probabilities of misdetection
and false detection. We show analytically that as long as the min-cut is not
dominated by the Byzantine adversaries, upstream nodes can monitor downstream
neighbors and allow reliable communication with certain probability. Finally,
we present simulation results that support our analysis.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, Submitted to IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in
Communications (JSAC) "Advances in Military Networking and Communications
A Multi-hop Multi-source Algebraic Watchdog
In our previous work "An Algebraic Watchdog for Wireless Network Coding", we
proposed a new scheme in which nodes can detect malicious behaviors
probabilistically, police their downstream neighbors locally using overheard
messages; thus, provide a secure global "self-checking network". As the first
building block of such a system, we focused on a two-hop network, and presented
a graphical model to understand the inference process by which nodes police
their downstream neighbors and to compute the probabilities of misdetection and
false detection.
In this paper, we extend the Algebraic Watchdog to a more general network
setting, and propose a protocol in which we can establish "trust" in coded
systems in a distributed manner. We develop a graphical model to detect the
presence of an adversarial node downstream within a general two-hop network.
The structure of the graphical model (a trellis) lends itself to well-known
algorithms, such as Viterbi algorithm, that can compute the probabilities of
misdetection and false detection. Using this as a building block, we generalize
our scheme to multi-hop networks. We show analytically that as long as the
min-cut is not dominated by the Byzantine adversaries, upstream nodes can
monitor downstream neighbors and allow reliable communication with certain
probability. Finally, we present preliminary simulation results that support
our analysis.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, to appear in IEEE ITW Dublin 201
Modeling Network Coded TCP Throughput: A Simple Model and its Validation
We analyze the performance of TCP and TCP with network coding (TCP/NC) in
lossy wireless networks. We build upon the simple framework introduced by
Padhye et al. and characterize the throughput behavior of classical TCP as well
as TCP/NC as a function of erasure rate, round-trip time, maximum window size,
and duration of the connection. Our analytical results show that network coding
masks erasures and losses from TCP, thus preventing TCP's performance
degradation in lossy networks, such as wireless networks. It is further seen
that TCP/NC has significant throughput gains over TCP. In addition, we simulate
TCP and TCP/NC to verify our analysis of the average throughput and the window
evolution. Our analysis and simulation results show very close concordance and
support that TCP/NC is robust against erasures. TCP/NC is not only able to
increase its window size faster but also to maintain a large window size
despite losses within the network, whereas TCP experiences window closing
essentially because losses are mistakenly attributed to congestion.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, 1 table, submitted to IEEE INFOCOM 201
Techniques for Enhanced Physical-Layer Security
Information-theoretic security--widely accepted as the strictest notion of
security--relies on channel coding techniques that exploit the inherent
randomness of propagation channels to strengthen the security of communications
systems. Within this paradigm, we explore strategies to improve secure
connectivity in a wireless network. We first consider the intrinsically secure
communications graph (iS-graph), a convenient representation of the links that
can be established with information-theoretic security on a large-scale
network. We then propose and characterize two techniques--sectorized
transmission and eavesdropper neutralization--which are shown to dramatically
enhance the connectivity of the iS-graph.Comment: Pre-print, IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference (GLOBECOM'10),
Miami, FL, Dec. 201
Wireless Secrecy in Large-Scale Networks
The ability to exchange secret information is critical to many commercial,
governmental, and military networks. The intrinsically secure communications
graph (iS-graph) is a random graph which describes the connections that can be
securely established over a large-scale network, by exploiting the physical
properties of the wireless medium. This paper provides an overview of the main
properties of this new class of random graphs. We first analyze the local
properties of the iS-graph, namely the degree distributions and their
dependence on fading, target secrecy rate, and eavesdropper collusion. To
mitigate the effect of the eavesdroppers, we propose two techniques that
improve secure connectivity. Then, we analyze the global properties of the
iS-graph, namely percolation on the infinite plane, and full connectivity on a
finite region. These results help clarify how the presence of eavesdroppers can
compromise secure communication in a large-scale network.Comment: To appear: Proc. IEEE Information Theory and Applications Workshop
(ITA'11), San Diego, CA, Feb. 2011, pp. 1-10, Invited Pape
Informed Network Coding for Minimum Decoding Delay
Network coding is a highly efficient data dissemination mechanism for
wireless networks. Since network coded information can only be recovered after
delivering a sufficient number of coded packets, the resulting decoding delay
can become problematic for delay-sensitive applications such as real-time media
streaming. Motivated by this observation, we consider several algorithms that
minimize the decoding delay and analyze their performance by means of
simulation. The algorithms differ both in the required information about the
state of the neighbors' buffers and in the way this knowledge is used to decide
which packets to combine through coding operations. Our results show that a
greedy algorithm, whose encodings maximize the number of nodes at which a coded
packet is immediately decodable significantly outperforms existing network
coding protocols.Comment: Proc. of the IEEE International Conference on Mobile Ad-hoc and
Sensor Systems (IEEE MASS 2008), Atlanta, USA, September 200
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