The emerging wireless paradigm of dynamic spectrum access via cognitive radio technology has been increasingly recognized for its great potential in drastically enhancing spectrum utilization efficiency. The basic requirements of cognitive radio networks (CRNs) are to protect licensed primary users and provide reliable dynamic spectrum access to secondary cognitive users, which give rise to a new fundamental issue in spectrum access related security. This project develops a comprehensive security system that lays down a secure backbone for CRNs that coexist with primary networks under various network architectures and spectrum coexistence paradigms. The developed security measures are coherently embedded into the entire CRN, from the very beginning of the spectrum sensing stage to the dynamic spectrum access process until the data communication stage.
Targeting three main sources of CRN security vulnerability, our research objectives and thrusts include: 1) systematically identify the unique primary user related attacks in CRNs and develop a suite of attack detection and defense mechanisms; 2) develop secure and robust strategies of dynamic spectrum access for benign cognitive users; 3) design confidential and anonymous mechanisms to solve the distinct challenges in privacy protection, taking full advantage of the unprecedented flexibility that CRNs offer in dynamic spectrum utilization. This project lays out the foundation for the development of enabling security technologies for the new paradigm of dynamic spectrum sharing, which in turn can substantially improve the spectrum utilization efficiency of wireless networks, offering a multitude of new cognitive radio devices and wireless services with secure and reliable spectrum access.
