SFRIC: A Secure Fast Roaming Scheme in Wireless LAN Using ID-Based Cryptography

In a wireless network composed of multiple access points, a long delay during roaming from one access point to another may cause a disruption for streaming traffic. Roaming in wireless LAN is generally composed of two parts, 1) searching for a new access point and 2) performing authentication at the new access point. To reduce the second part delay, we propose an innovative lightweight authentication scheme called SFRIC (Secure Fast Roaming using ID-based Cryptography). SFRIC employs ID-based cryptography to simplify the authentication process. It performs mutual authentication for the mobile client and AP with a 3-way handshake, then generates a PTK (Pairwise Transient Key) directly without pre-distributing PMK (Pairwise Master Key). It does not require contacting an authentication server or exchanging certificates. SFRIC is composed of two phases. In the first phase (the preparation phase), each mobile client obtains a temporary private key from the PKG (private key generator). In th...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: ICC
• Authors: Yoohwan Kim, Wei Ren, Ju-Yeon Jo, Yingtao Jiang, Jun Zheng
• Keywords: Access Point, Authentication, Communications, ICC 2007, Roaming