Token-Based Security Protocol for Wireless Local Area Networks

Se Hyun Park and Aura Ganz
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Zvi Ganz
AIM Engineering Inc.

Abstract

As Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) are rapidly deployed to expand the field of wireless products, the provision of authentication and privacy of the information transfer will be mandatory. These functions need to take into account the inherent limitations of the WLAN m edium such as the noisy wireless channel, limited bandwidth and limited computat ional power.

In this paper, we introduce a token based protocol that provides privacy and authentication, and is designed to reduce security overheads while taking into account the WLAN characteristics.

Se Hyun Park
Multimedia Wireless LAN Laboratory
Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003

Aura Ganz
Multimedia Wireless LAN Laboratory
Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003
ganz@tikva.ecs.umass.edu

Zvi Ganz
AIM Engineering Inc.
zvi@aime.com