Selective Control Signal Encryption for Wireless Integrity and Confidentiality

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current broadband wireless access systems secure integrity of control signals using message authentication codes but fail to provide confidentiality, leaving control signals vulnerable to unauthorized access.

Innovation Solution

A method is introduced to selectively encrypt control signals exchanged between a mobile station and a base station using a control signal encryption key, generated after an authorization phase, which includes generating an authentication key, key encryption keys, and using these to encrypt and decrypt control signals, ensuring both integrity and confidentiality.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If message authentication code is used to secure control signals, then integrity is improved, but confidentiality deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveintegrityVSAvoidconfidentiality vulnerability

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the security protection mechanism into two distinct components: message authentication code for integrity protection and encryption for confidentiality protection. This allows each component to perform its specific function without interfering with the other, resolving the contradiction by providing both integrity and confidentiality through separate but complementary security layers

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent merges multiple security mechanisms (message authentication code and encryption) into a unified security framework. By combining these mechanisms, the system achieves both integrity (through MAC) and confidentiality (through encryption), eliminating the vulnerability where only integrity was provided while confidentiality remained exposed

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

2Object-affected harmful factors

If all control signals are encrypted, then confidentiality is improved, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

ImproveconfidentialityVSAvoidencryption management complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies encryption selectively rather than uniformly to all control signals. By identifying and encrypting only those control signals that require confidentiality protection, the system achieves confidentiality where needed while avoiding the unnecessary complexity that would result from encrypting all control signals uniformly

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements partial encryption action by encrypting only specific control signals that require confidentiality rather than all control signals. This partial approach provides sufficient confidentiality protection for sensitive information while reducing the overall complexity of encryption management compared to a full-encryption approach

Inventive Principle:

Principle #16Partial or excessive action

Data Source

PatentUS8826011B2Method of encrypting control signaling

Publication Date: 2014.09.02 LG ELECTRONICS INC

AI summary

A method and device for selectively protecting a control signal. The method includes: configuring, at a transmission end, a header comprising indication information representing whether the control signal is encrypted; performing, at the transmitting end, protection of the control signal by selecting one of schemes for protecting the control signal; and transmitting, by the transmission end to the reception end, the control signal comprising the header. The schemes for protecting the control signal include: a first scheme that protects confidentiality and integrity of the control signal, a second scheme that protects only the integrity of the control signal, and a third scheme providing no protection of the control signal.