Generation of perfectly secret keys in wireless communication networks

摘要

A method and apparatus is used for generating a perfectly random secret key between two or more transceivers in a wireless communication network. In a point-to-point system, both transceivers produce an estimate of the channel impulse response (CIR) based on the received radio signal. The CIR estimation is synchronized and may include error correction and detection. A long secret key of bits is generated from a digitized version of the CIR estimate, from which a perfectly secret encryption key is derived by privacy amplification.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
receiving a radio signal at a first wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU); receiving antenna configuration information from a second WTRU at the first WTRU; generating a channel impulse response (CIR) estimate at the first WTRU for the radio signal, wherein the CIR estimate is generated based, at least in part, on the antenna configuration information; determining a starting point within the CIR estimate at the first WTRU; transmitting the starting point from the first WTRU to a second WTRU; generating a long secret key based on the CIR estimate at the first WTRU; and generating a perfectly secret encryption key based on the long secret key at the first WTRU.