Qos and security provisioning in 4G/5G LTE-advanced networks

• Main Author: Muhammad Jawad Alam Wahla
• Other Authors: Ma Maode
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Wireless communication systems
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/72357
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Quality of service (QoS) mechanisms deal with ensuring the high quality services o ered by network. Reliability, accessibility and security are some of the main features of any service o ered by a network. Support for diverse QoS requirements is one of the key areas of interest in the Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced based networks. Carrier Aggregation (CA), in which the bandwidth is aggregated across di erent bands to achieve a higher bandwidth, is one of the most signi cant among them. Dual Connectivity (DC), Coordinated Multipoint Transmission (CoMP), Device-to-Device Communications (D2D), and Self-Organizing Networks (SON) are some of the other leading technologies introduced in LTE-Advanced. Because of the introduction of these new technologies, existing QoS and security mechanisms in LTE cannot be mapped directly to LTE-Advanced, so there is a need to investigate and develop new mechanisms for LTE-Advanced. The aim of this research is to develop QoS and security provisioning mechanisms for LTE-Advanced based 4G/5G networks The CA technology has introduced new challenges for LTE-Advanced resource matching. Radio Resources Management (RRM) is one of the key elements for QoS provisioning. We have developed a new RRM technique utilizing game theory. Matching Markets are known to solve di erent resource-matching problems, such as kidney exchange, child adoption, matching doctors, and college admission. We model the problem of resource allocation as a matching game and propose a solution utilizing game theory, which takes into consideration the QoS demand of the users. The allocation is done based on channel conditions, QoS pro les, and carrier selection. The proposed Matching Game (MG) algorithm nds a stable Pareto e cient matching of resource blocks to users. Theoretical analysis demonstrates that MG can nd an optimal and stable outcome. Next, we look into RRM techniques for the handover mechanism from a security perspective. 5G networks have stringent latency requirements for meeting the QoS. Authentication and key establishment are the key components of a secure handover. The focus of our research is to perform a secure handover within the latency requirements, so we present a secure handover scheme using Software-De ned Networking (SDN) in 4G/5G Heterogeneous networks (HetNet). In dense HetNet, the frequency of handovers magni es the challenge of meeting the QoS. SDN will play a crucial role in future networks; moreover, we show that the proposed scheme can ful ll the delay constraints of 5G networks by making use of the centralized capabilities of SDN. Authentication information for the user device is securely transferred along the mobility path to enable fast handovers. We present formal security proof, proof of logic correctness and an informal security analysis of the scheme. Using the same SDN model, we further explore authentication and key establishment in DC and CoMP scenarios of LTE-Advanced based 4G/5G networks. With the help of these technologies, a user device can simultaneously connect to multiple base stations. LTE speci cation addresses scenarios in which a direct secure link is available between access points. Due to the dense nature of a 5G HetNet, a direct connection is not possible in many cases. Existing authentication schemes and key establishments will not be able to meet the QoS requirement of the 5G network due to the delay incurred. We develop a security context transfer mechanism, which can pre-authenticate the destination AP by leveraging the SDN architecture. We create a Merkle-tree based authentication mechanism that reduces the computational overhead of authentications. Pre-authentication combined with a fast authentication phase enables this scheme to meet the latency requirements of 5G networks.