NICOP - Secure and Cognitive Communication in Underwater Networks
Abstract
Security of underwater acoustic networks will be addressed from a cognitive and cross-layer perspective. New communication algorithm"s and network protocols will be designed such that an efficient trade-off between network throughput, low latency and robustness aga"inst malicious attacks is accomplished. The proposed research will find application in future autonomous maritime surveillance systems.MotivationInnovative protocols and communication algorithms have been proposed over the last decade for underwater acoustic net"works (UANs), however, the state-of-art technology can support only low-data-rate and delay-tolerant applications. In addition, curr""ent technology does not consider security as a performance indicator. As a consequence, UANs are vulnerable to various active and pa""ssive malicious attacks. Studies concerned with security for UANs are scarce in the open literature. Within these studies, malicious"" attacks are separately considered in each layer of the Open System Interconnection (OSI) stack. Yet, a security solution focused on"" one layer may not protect the other layers. Moreover, conflicting actions leading to performance degradation may arise if independe"nt security solutions are established at each layer. Recent studies in protocol design have shown that cross-layer techniques can im"prove protocol performance, especially in networks with limited resources and/or deployed in challenging environments, like UANs. He""nce, there is an imperative need to develop cognitive cross-layer mechanisms that will defend the network as a whole.ObjectivesWe"" envision two major objectives within the SCOUT project. Firstly, we will address theoretical aspects of communication methods and c""ognitive cross-layer protocols that enhance security in UANs. Secondly, we aim at demonstrating candidate methods and protocols usin"g the CMRE-supported at-sea testbed in the Golf of La Spezia. Various experimental layouts will be considered including mobile and static nodes. Our specific research aims are:1. -A new communication technique based on sub-band modulation and equalization. Low-probability-of-intercept (LPI) and anti-jamming (AJ) capability will be achieved by combining various channel and spreading codes.2. -A novel protocol that will establish symmetric cryptographic keys without sharing any prior secrets between nodes. Additional security enhancement will be achieved by combining the physical-layer key with state-of-art cryptography.3. -Innovative distributed and cro"ss-layer networking solutions for data confidentiality, authenticity, integrity, freshness and availability of the information. Thes"e solutions will avoid the presence of single points of failure and will be able to use the cognitive cross-layer paradigm to reorganize the network operations and provide the required level of security and robustness in the system.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2017
- Source ID
- N629091712093
Entities
People
- Roberto Petroccia
Organizations
- Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy