Key Generation Recommended Reading

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This page provides recommended introductory and advanced reading on key generation from wireless channels.

Review/Survey/Tutorial on Key Generation

  1. 2020
    J. Zhang, G. Li, A. Marshall, A. Hu, and L. Hanzo, “A new frontier for IoT security emerging from three decades of key generation relying on wireless channels,” IEEE Access, vol. 8, pp. 138406–138446, 2020, doi: 10.1109/access.2020.3012006.
    DOI 
    @article{zhang2020new,
  title = {A new frontier for {IoT} security emerging from three decades of key generation relying on wireless channels},
  author = {Zhang, Junqing and Li, Guyue and Marshall, Alan and Hu, Aiqun and Hanzo, Lajos},
  journal = {IEEE Access},
  volume = {8},
  pages = {138406--138446},
  year = {2020},
  doi = {10.1109/access.2020.3012006},
  keywords = {keygen,survey}
}
  2. 2016
    J. Zhang, T. Q. Duong, A. Marshall, and R. Woods, “Key generation from wireless channels: A review,” IEEE Access, vol. 4, pp. 614–626, 2016, doi: 10.1109/access.2016.2521718.
    Why this paper? This comprehensive survey covers the fundamentals, principles, procedures, evaluation metrics, and applications of wireless key generation.
    DOI 
    @article{zhang2016key,
  title = {Key generation from wireless channels: A review},
  author = {Zhang, Junqing and Duong, Trung Q and Marshall, Alan and Woods, Roger},
  journal = {IEEE Access},
  volume = {4},
  pages = {614--626},
  year = {2016},
  doi = {10.1109/access.2016.2521718},
  keywords = {keygen,survey}
}
  3. 2017
    J. Zhang, T. Q. Duong, R. Woods, and A. Marshall, “Securing wireless communications of the Internet of things from the physical layer, An overview,” Entropy, vol. 19, no. 8, p. 420, 2017, doi: 10.3390/e19080420.
    Why this paper? This paper provides a tutorial on wireless key generation and physical-layer encryption.
    DOI arXiv 
    @article{zhang2017securing,
  title = {Securing wireless communications of the {Internet} of things from the physical layer, An overview},
  author = {Zhang, Junqing and Duong, Trung Q and Woods, Roger and Marshall, Alan},
  journal = {Entropy},
  volume = {19},
  number = {8},
  pages = {420},
  year = {2017},
  doi = {10.3390/e19080420},
  arxiv = {1708.05124},
  keywords = {keygen,survey}
}
  4. 2019
    G. Li, C. Sun, J. Zhang, E. Jorswieck, B. Xiao, and A. Hu, “Physical layer key generation in 5G and beyond wireless communications: Challenges and opportunities,” Entropy, vol. 21, no. 5, p. 497, 2019, doi: 10.3390/e21050497.
    DOI 
    @article{li2019physical,
  title = {Physical layer key generation in {5G} and beyond wireless communications: Challenges and opportunities},
  author = {Li, Guyue and Sun, Chen and Zhang, Junqing and Jorswieck, Eduard and Xiao, Bin and Hu, Aiqun},
  journal = {Entropy},
  volume = {21},
  number = {5},
  pages = {497},
  year = {2019},
  doi = {10.3390/e21050497},
  keywords = {keygen,survey}
}
  5. 2016
    C. Huth, R. Guillaume, T. Strohm, P. Duplys, I. A. Samuel, and T. Güneysu, “Information reconciliation schemes in physical-layer security: A survey,” Computer Networks, vol. 109, pp. 84–104, 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.comnet.2016.06.014.
    DOI 
    @article{huth2016reconciliation,
  author = {Huth, Christopher and Guillaume, Ren{\'e} and Strohm, Thomas and Duplys, Paul and Samuel, Irin Ann and G{\"u}neysu, Tim},
  title = {Information reconciliation schemes in physical-layer security: A survey},
  journal = {Computer Networks},
  year = {2016},
  volume = {109},
  pages = {84--104},
  doi = {10.1016/j.comnet.2016.06.014}
}
  6. 2015
    T. Wang, Y. Liu, and A. V. Vasilakos, “Survey on channel reciprocity based key establishment techniques for wireless systems,” Wireless Networks, vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 1835–1846, 2015, doi: 10.1007/s11276-014-0841-8.
    DOI 
    @article{wang2015reciprocity,
  author = {Wang, Tao and Liu, Yao and Vasilakos, Athanasios V.},
  title = {Survey on channel reciprocity based key establishment techniques for wireless systems},
  journal = {Wireless Networks},
  year = {2015},
  volume = {21},
  number = {6},
  pages = {1835--1846},
  doi = {10.1007/s11276-014-0841-8}
}
  7. 2015
    K. Zeng, “Physical layer key generation in wireless networks: Challenges and opportunities,” IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 53, no. 6, pp. 33–39, 2015, doi: 10.1109/MCOM.2015.7120014.
    DOI 
    @article{zeng2015physical,
  author = {Zeng, Kai},
  title = {Physical layer key generation in wireless networks: Challenges and opportunities},
  journal = {IEEE Communications Magazine},
  year = {2015},
  volume = {53},
  number = {6},
  pages = {33--39},
  doi = {10.1109/MCOM.2015.7120014}
}
  8. 2011
    K. Ren, H. Su, and Q. Wang, “Secret key generation exploiting channel characteristics in wireless communications,” IEEE Wireless Communications, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 6–12, 2011, doi: 10.1109/MWC.2011.5999759.
    DOI 
    @article{ren2011secret,
  author = {Ren, Kui and Su, Hai and Wang, Qian},
  title = {Secret key generation exploiting channel characteristics in wireless communications},
  journal = {IEEE Wireless Communications},
  year = {2011},
  volume = {18},
  number = {4},
  pages = {6--12},
  doi = {10.1109/MWC.2011.5999759}
}

Key Generation With Wireless Technologies

Wi-Fi/IEEE 802.11

  1. 2016
    J. Zhang et al., “Experimental study on key generation for physical layer security in wireless communications,” IEEE Access, vol. 4, pp. 4464–4477, 2016, doi: 10.1109/access.2016.2604618.
    Why this paper? This comprehensive experimental study examines temporal variation, channel reciprocity, and spatial decorrelation in an anechoic chamber, a reverberation chamber, and indoor office environments.
    DOI 
    @article{zhang2016experimental,
  title = {Experimental study on key generation for physical layer security in wireless communications},
  author = {Zhang, Junqing and Woods, Roger and Duong, Trung Q and Marshall, Alan and Ding, Yuan and Huang, Yi and Xu, Qian},
  journal = {IEEE Access},
  volume = {4},
  pages = {4464--4477},
  year = {2016},
  doi = {10.1109/access.2016.2604618},
  keywords = {keygen}
}
  2. 2009
    S. Jana, S. N. Premnath, M. Clark, S. K. Kasera, N. Patwari, and S. V. Krishnamurthy, “On the effectiveness of secret key extraction from wireless signal strength in real environments,” in Proceedings of the 15th Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking, 2009, pp. 321–332. doi: 10.1145/1614320.1614356.
    DOI 
    @inproceedings{jana2009effectiveness,
  author = {Jana, Suman and Premnath, Sriram Nandha and Clark, Mike and Kasera, Sneha K. and Patwari, Neal and Krishnamurthy, Srikanth V.},
  title = {On the effectiveness of secret key extraction from wireless signal strength in real environments},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 15th Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking},
  year = {2009},
  pages = {321--332},
  doi = {10.1145/1614320.1614356}
}
  3. 2008
    S. Mathur, W. Trappe, N. Mandayam, C. Ye, and A. Reznik, “Radio-telepathy: Extracting a secret key from an unauthenticated wireless channel,” in Proceedings of the 14th ACM International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking, 2008, pp. 128–139. doi: 10.1145/1409944.1409960.
    DOI 
    @inproceedings{mathur2008radiotelepathy,
  author = {Mathur, Suhas and Trappe, Wade and Mandayam, Narayan and Ye, Chunxuan and Reznik, Alex},
  title = {Radio-telepathy: Extracting a secret key from an unauthenticated wireless channel},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 14th ACM International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking},
  year = {2008},
  pages = {128--139},
  doi = {10.1145/1409944.1409960}
}

ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4

  1. 2016
    C. T. Zenger, M. Pietersz, J. Zimmer, J.-F. Posielek, T. Lenze, and C. Paar, “Authenticated key establishment for low-resource devices exploiting correlated random channels,” Computer Networks, vol. 109, pp. 105–123, 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.comnet.2016.06.013.
    DOI 
    @article{zenger2016authenticated,
  author = {Zenger, Christian T. and Pietersz, Mario and Zimmer, Jan and Posielek, Jan-Felix and Lenze, Thorben and Paar, Christof},
  title = {Authenticated key establishment for low-resource devices exploiting correlated random channels},
  journal = {Computer Networks},
  year = {2016},
  volume = {109},
  pages = {105--123},
  doi = {10.1016/j.comnet.2016.06.013}
}
  2. 2014
    S. T. Ali, V. Sivaraman, and D. Ostry, “Eliminating Reconciliation Cost in Secret Key Generation for Body-Worn Health Monitoring Devices,” IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, vol. 13, no. 12, pp. 2763–2776, 2014, doi: 10.1109/TMC.2013.71.
    DOI 
    @article{ali2014eliminating,
  author = {Ali, Syed Taha and Sivaraman, Vijay and Ostry, Diethelm},
  title = {Eliminating Reconciliation Cost in Secret Key Generation for Body-Worn Health Monitoring Devices},
  journal = {IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing},
  year = {2014},
  volume = {13},
  number = {12},
  pages = {2763--2776},
  doi = {10.1109/TMC.2013.71}
}

Bluetooth

  1. 2014
    S. N. Premnath, P. L. Gowda, S. K. Kasera, N. Patwari, and R. Ricci, “Secret key extraction using Bluetooth wireless signal strength measurements,” in 2014 Eleventh Annual IEEE International Conference on Sensing, Communication, and Networking (SECON), 2014, pp. 293–301. doi: 10.1109/SAHCN.2014.6990365.
    DOI 
    @inproceedings{premnath2014bluetooth,
  author = {Premnath, Sriram N. and Gowda, Prarthana L. and Kasera, Sneha K. and Patwari, Neal and Ricci, Robert},
  title = {Secret key extraction using {Bluetooth} wireless signal strength measurements},
  booktitle = {2014 Eleventh Annual IEEE International Conference on Sensing, Communication, and Networking (SECON)},
  year = {2014},
  pages = {293--301},
  doi = {10.1109/SAHCN.2014.6990365}
}

LoRa/LoRaWAN

  1. 2018
    H. Ruotsalainen and S. Grebeniuk, “Towards Wireless Secret Key Agreement with LoRa Physical Layer,” in Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security, 2018, pp. 23:1–23:6. doi: 10.1145/3230833.3232803.
    DOI 
    @inproceedings{ruotsalainen2018towards,
  author = {Ruotsalainen, Henri and Grebeniuk, Stepan},
  title = {Towards Wireless Secret Key Agreement with {LoRa} Physical Layer},
  booktitle = {Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security},
  year = {2018},
  pages = {23:1--23:6},
  doi = {10.1145/3230833.3232803}
}
  2. 2018
    J. Zhang, A. Marshall, and L. Hanzo, “Channel-envelope differencing eliminates secret key correlation: LoRa-based key generation in low power wide area networks,” IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 67, no. 12, pp. 12462–12466, 2018, doi: 10.1109/tvt.2018.2877201.
    Why this paper? This experimental study investigates key generation for long-range communication using LoRa as a case study.
    DOI arXiv 
    @article{zhang2018channel,
  title = {Channel-envelope differencing eliminates secret key correlation: {LoRa}-based key generation in low power wide area networks},
  author = {Zhang, Junqing and Marshall, Alan and Hanzo, Lajos},
  journal = {IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology},
  volume = {67},
  number = {12},
  pages = {12462--12466},
  year = {2018},
  doi = {10.1109/tvt.2018.2877201},
  arxiv = {1810.08031},
  keywords = {keygen}
}
  3. 2019
    W. Xu, S. Jha, and W. Hu, “LoRa-Key: Secure Key Generation System for LoRa-Based Network,” IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 6404–6416, 2019, doi: 10.1109/JIOT.2018.2888553.
    DOI 
    @article{xu2019lorakey,
  author = {Xu, Weitao and Jha, Sanjay and Hu, Wen},
  title = {{LoRa-Key}: Secure Key Generation System for {LoRa}-Based Network},
  journal = {IEEE Internet of Things Journal},
  year = {2019},
  volume = {6},
  number = {4},
  pages = {6404--6416},
  doi = {10.1109/JIOT.2018.2888553}
}

Tool

  • NIST SP 800-22: A Statistical Test Suite for the Validation of Random Number Generators and Pseudo Random Number. C and Python implementations are available online.