EAGER: Securing Wireless Network Coding against Pollution Attack at the Physical Layer

Iowa State University, Ames IA

Investigators

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this program is to address the fundamental imbalance between the attacker and the communicator in wireless network coding system by (1) detecting the falsely injected packet at the physical layer; and (2) separating and removing only the falsely injected packet from the polluted packet to extract (restore) the true coded packet. The program thus provides two transformative perspectives: (1) exploiting the physical signals that are available for free in detecting the falsely injected packet; and (2) recycling the polluted packet instead of discarding it, thereby dramatically improving the spectrum efficiency. Intellectual merit: The intellectual merit of this research lies in the new perspective (signal processing) in addressing the security problem facing current network coding technology. The novelty of the proposed approach is the integration of communication and security aspects, which traditionally have been studied separately. The fundamental tradeoff among the security, rate, and reliability is investigated to develop a theoretical foundation for integrating communication and security issues in network coding systems design. Broader Impacts: The broader impacts of this project are: (1) broadening the participation of minority and women in engineering programs by developing an experimental demonstration program for local high school students; (2) impacting on emerging secure embedded/sensor/ad-hoc networks that will be applicable to a wide range of applications, including surveillance and security, health and environmental monitoring, and public safety and emergency response.