Wireless Secret Key Verification via Channel Randomness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless communication systems, particularly in 5G NR, face challenges in securely verifying secret keys between devices, which is crucial for encrypting communications and preventing eavesdropping, especially in scenarios where channel reciprocity may be affected by noise or mismatched signal-to-noise ratios.
Innovation Solution
A method where wireless devices generate and verify secret keys based on channel randomness or shared seed values, using encoding techniques like bit-level operations, hash functions, or polynomials to create verification bits, ensuring key agreement without revealing the actual key, and transmitting these verification bits over specific resource blocks to maintain security.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If secret keys are transmitted directly for verification, then key verification is simplified, but security is compromised as the key becomes vulnerable to eavesdropping
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a verification bit that is a transformed copy of the secret key, where only the transmitting device can generate it and the receiving device can verify it. This copy contains verification information without exposing the actual key, allowing key verification while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The verification bit acts as an intermediary element between the secret key and the verification process. Instead of transmitting the key directly, the system transmits this intermediate verification bit that enables verification without revealing the key material.
2Reliability
If verification bits are transmitted on dedicated resources, then verification reliability is improved, but resource utilization efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes control resources capable of serving dual purposes: they can carry both control information and verification bits. By configuring control resources to be versatile, the system achieves reliable verification without requiring separate dedicated resources, thus improving resource utilization efficiency.
3Device complexity
If channel reciprocity is assumed for key generation, then key generation is simplified, but security deteriorates under noisy conditions or mismatched signal-to-noise ratios
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a feedback mechanism where the receiving device sends verification bits back to the transmitting device. This feedback loop allows both devices to verify key agreement and detect mismatches caused by noise or channel conditions, enabling key re-generation if necessary while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary verification by generating and exchanging verification bits before actual data transmission begins. This preliminary verification action ensures key agreement reliability is established beforehand, preventing security issues during subsequent communications.
Data Source
AI summary
The apparatus may include first and second wireless devices, and the first and second wireless devices may be a UE or a base station. The first wireless device may generate one or more verification bits based on one or more secret keys, and transmit to the second wireless device the indication of the one or more verification bits. The second wireless device may receive the indication of the one or more verification bits, decode the one or more verification bits, and transmit feedback to the first wireless device. The first and second wireless devices may select at least one resource of a plurality of resources for the communication of the one or more verification bits based on at least part in the encoded or modified at least one secret key to communicate the one or more verification bits.