Wireless Node Early Message Authentication Energy Saving
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Solution Overview
Problem
Wireless M2M devices are vulnerable to energy wastage due to malicious wake-up messages, as current techniques require full message reception for authenticity verification, leading to unnecessary radio usage and battery drain.
Innovation Solution
A wireless network node that performs cryptographic operations on message symbols as they arrive to generate a second integrity indicator before the first message integrity indicator is received, allowing early identification of unauthorized messages and disabling radio reception to conserve energy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If full message reception is performed before authenticity verification, then message integrity can be verified, but energy is wasted due to unnecessary radio reception
Solution Approach 1:
The patent places a message integrity indicator (such as a cryptographic hash or MAC) at the beginning of the message packet, allowing the receiving device to verify authenticity before fully receiving or processing the rest of the message. This preliminary placement enables early termination of reception for unauthorized messages, directly resolving the contradiction by making verification possible before full reception occurs.
Solution Approach 2:
The message structure is segmented into distinct parts: a header containing the integrity indicator, and the remaining message body. This segmentation allows the receiver to process and verify the integrity indicator separately from the full message content, enabling energy-efficient early verification without requiring complete message reception.
2Use of energy by moving object
If DRX technique is used to reduce power consumption, then energy savings are achieved, but devices remain vulnerable to malicious wake-up messages
Solution Approach 1:
During DRX awake cycles, the device performs preliminary verification of the message integrity indicator as soon as it becomes available in the packet header. This preliminary action allows the device to quickly identify and discard malicious wake-up messages without fully processing them, maintaining security while minimizing the duration of high-power radio reception.
3Reliability
If cryptography is added at the application layer, then spoofed messages can be prevented, but radio reception and energy waste are still not avoided
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a message integrity indicator as an intermediary element that bridges the gap between the physical/radio layer and the application layer. This indicator, placed in the packet header, enables verification functionality at a lower layer (MAC or network layer), allowing the system to prevent spoofed messages without requiring full application-layer processing, thus reducing energy consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The cryptographic verification is performed preliminarily on the integrity indicator in the message header before the full message is received or processed at the application layer. This preliminary cryptographic check enables early rejection of spoofed messages, avoiding the energy waste of complete message reception and processing.
4Use of energy by moving object
If authentication is performed at lower layers, then energy efficiency is improved, but the entire message must still be received before verification
Solution Approach 1:
The message integrity indicator is placed in the header portion of the message packet, allowing authentication verification to begin as soon as the header is received. This preliminary positioning enables the verification process to start before the complete message is received, reducing both the time and energy required for authentication.
Data Source
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AI summary
There is described a method of authorizing a message received at a node in a wireless network. The method comprises receiving the message using radio reception from a sender device in the network, the message being formed by a plurality of symbols and including a first message integrity indicator located at a predetermined distance from the start of the message such that further symbols of the message are included after the first message integrity indicator. The position of the first message integrity indicator in the message is determined, and a cryptographic operation is performed on at least some of the symbols of the message before the first message integrity indicator so as to generate a second message integrity indicator before the first message integrity indicator is received. The first and second message integrity indicators are compared, and an indication that the message is not authorized is provided if the second message integrity indicator does not match the first message integrity indicator. This enables the node to disable reception before the whole message has been received if the message is not authorized, thus saving energy.