Active 2D-DNA Fingerprinting of WirelessHART Adapters to Ensure Operational Integrity in Industrial Systems

Abstract

The need for reliable communications in industrial systems becomes more evident as industries strive to increase reliance on automation. This trend has sustained the adoption of WirelessHART communications as a key enabling technology and its operational integrity must be ensured. This paper focuses on demonstrating pre-deployment counterfeit detection using active 2D Distinct Native Attribute (2D-DNA) fingerprinting. Counterfeit detection is demonstrated using experimentally collected signals from eight commercial WirelessHART adapters. Adapter fingerprints are used to train 56 Multiple Discriminant Analysis (MDA) models with each representing five authentic network devices. The three non-modeled devices are introduced as counterfeits and a total of 840 individual authentic (modeled) versus counterfeit (non-modeled) ID verification assessments performed. Counterfeit detection is performed on a fingerprint-by-fingerprint basis with best case per-device Counterfeit Detection Rate (%CDR) estimates including 87.6% < %CDR < 99.9% and yielding an average cross-device %CDR ≈ 92.5%. This full-dimensional feature set performance was echoed by dimensionally reduced feature set performance that included per-device 87.0% < %CDR < 99.7% and average cross-device %CDR ≈ 91.4% using only 18-of-291 features—the demonstrated %CDR > 90% with an approximate 92% reduction in the number of fingerprint features is sufficiently promising for small-scale network applications and warrants further consideration.

Discriminating WirelessHART Communication Devices Using Sub-Nyquist Stimulated Responses

“…The operational motivation for considering Wireless Highway Addressable Remote Transducer (WirelessHART) field device discriminability is generally unchanged from that put forth in prior related works [5,[7][8][9][10]. It is even reasonable to argue that the motivation today remains stronger than ever given that (1) the number of fielded WirelessHART devices has reached into the tens-of-millions [11], and (2) hundreds of thousands of Wire-lessHART devices are manufactured annually and enter the supply chain [12].…”

“…It is even reasonable to argue that the motivation today remains stronger than ever given that (1) the number of fielded WirelessHART devices has reached into the tens-of-millions [11], and (2) hundreds of thousands of Wire-lessHART devices are manufactured annually and enter the supply chain [12]. Since its initial introduction WirelessHART has been well-received in European and North American industries given that [3,9,11,12]:…”

“…These methods embedded structures at the integrated circuit level to impart unique RF fingerprint features when stimulated. The stimulated features are extracted and used to track and verify device identity as it traverses the supply chain (manufacturer, distributor, installer); • DNA-based fingerprinting that exploits inherently present uniqueness resulting from device component, sub-assembly, and/or manufacturing process differences [9,[19][20][21]. These methods exploit stimulated features that are distinct (unique from deviceto-device), native (instilled during manufacture), and collectively embody device hardware/operating attributes (power consumption, mode, status, etc.…”

“…Passive DNA fingerprints are generated from devices that are operably connected and perform their normal by-design communication function. Subsequent demonstrations in [9] used the same WirelessHART adapters with passive DNA fingerprinting processes from [5,7] and the active DNA fingerprinting process from [8].…”

“…The work in [9] provides the main motivation for demonstrations performed here with a goal of improving overall computational efficiency and enhancing the operational transition potential. Several options were considered in [9], including the application of conventional signal processing (down-conversion and filtering) and factor-of-5 decimation of the active DNA stimulated responses from [8].…”