Secured Paging Using Cryptographic UE Identifiers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional paging procedures in wireless communication systems lack adequate security measures, allowing malicious attackers to intercept and decode user equipment (UE) identities, leading to resource congestion and battery depletion in UEs.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a secured UE identifier calculated based on a security configuration negotiated between the UE and a trusted source, allowing the UE to confirm the authenticity of the paging message before responding with a connection request, thereby preventing unauthorized messages.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional paging procedures are used with unsecured UE identifiers, then the system is simple and easy to implement, but security is compromised allowing attackers to intercept and decode UE identities leading to resource congestion and battery depletion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-calculating and storing expected secured UE identifiers in the UE before receiving paging messages. The UE performs security configuration negotiation with the network to establish cryptographic context, then pre-computes what valid secured identifiers should look like. When a paging message arrives, the UE can immediately verify if the contained identifier matches its pre-calculated expectations without performing complex real-time cryptographic operations, thus achieving strong security with minimal processing overhead.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by creating a secured copy of the UE identifier through cryptographic transformation. Instead of transmitting or comparing the plain UE identity directly, the system generates a secured UE identifier that is a cryptographic copy or representation of the original identifier. This secured copy maintains the uniqueness and identifying properties of the original while being protected from unauthorized interpretation or misuse by attackers who intercept the paging message.
2Speed
If the UE responds to every received paging message, then connection establishment is fast, but resource wastage and battery drain increase due to false paging messages from attackers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements feedback by having the UE continuously monitor and verify the authenticity of received paging messages using the secured UE identifier validation mechanism. The UE provides feedback to the network by only responding to paging messages that pass authentication, while silently ignoring fraudulent messages. This creates a feedback loop where the security verification result directly determines whether the UE consumes energy to respond or not, enabling the system to maintain fast connection establishment for legitimate pages while filtering out attacks.
Solution Approach 2:
The UE performs self-service by autonomously validating the authenticity of paging messages using its pre-configured security context and pre-calculated expected identifiers. The UE does not need to consult external authorities or perform complex real-time verification; it uses its own stored security parameters to immediately determine whether a paging message is legitimate. This self-service capability allows the UE to make rapid decisions about whether to respond, maintaining fast connection establishment while avoiding energy waste on fraudulent messages.
3Reliability
If the UE validates each paging message using secured identifiers, then security is enhanced, but processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-calculating and storing expected secured UE identifiers in the UE before receiving paging messages. The UE performs security configuration negotiation with the network to establish cryptographic context, then pre-computes what valid secured identifiers should look like. When a paging message arrives, the UE can immediately verify if the contained identifier matches its pre-calculated expectations without performing complex real-time cryptographic operations, thus achieving strong security with minimal processing overhead.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. A user equipment (UE) may receive a paging message that includes a secured UE identifier calculated based on a security configuration negotiated between the UE and a trusted source, e.g., a mobility management entity (MME) of the core network. The UE may determine whether the paging message is received from the trusted source or an untrusted source based on the secured UE identifier. The UE may transmit a connection request message based on the determination that the paging message is received from a trusted source.