Distributed authentication for low-cost wireless networks

Abstract

Cost is one of the key challenges facing the deployment of wireless networks. Though 802.11-based networks have shown that costly, licensed spectrum is not always necessary, the costs of other components especially backhaul and network equipment continue to impede the growth of mobile wireless networks. In this paper, we provide some insights into how such costs can be reduced by designing a novel, low-cost authentication infrastructure for wireless networks. Our authentication scheme relies on base stations to collectively store authentication information. Thus, it eliminates the need to maintain costly infrastructure required by the traditional centralized scheme. Moreover, our scheme is optimized for mobility-induced handover "re-authentication" and, hence, reduces the authentication overhead. Copyright 2008 ACM.