Analysis of Error Impact for Batch Handover Authentication Protocols in Mobile Wireless Networks

Abstract

The handover authentication protocol controls the access of multiple access points in a mobile wireless network (MWN). PairHand is a handover authentication protocol that uses identity-based public key cryptography based on bilinear pairing and provides batch verification to efficiently control multiple accesses. However, there may be errors in the messages transmitted via a wireless channel; such errors can affect the batch verification process. Previous studies involving PairHand have calculated the verification delay without considering errors. We have classified the message verification methods into two types: individual verification, in which the messages are individually verified and batch verification, in which the messages are verified all at once. We formulate the verification delay as a function of the bit error probability and visualize it. In our graph, the batch verification delay rapidly increases as the bit error probability increases and then forms an intersection with the individual verification delay. This intersection can be a guideline for whether to use batch verification or individual verification, depending on the bit error rate. We also classify the previously proposed handover authentication protocols into pairing-based protocols and pairing-free protocols and analyze the computation and communication costs of each. Based on the analysis results, we propose a mini-batch method to reduce the batch verification delay in an error-prone MWN. INDEX TERMS Batch handover authentication, batch verification delay, bilinear pairing, elliptic curve cryptography, handover authentication protocol, mini-batch verification, mobile wireless network.