Event-driven implicit authentication for mobile access control

In order to protect user privacy on mobile devices, an event-driven implicit authentication scheme is proposed in this paper. Several methods of utilizing the scheme for recognizing legitimate user behavior are investigated. The investigated methods compute an aggregate score and a threshold in real-time to determine the trust level of the current user using real data derived from user interaction with the device. The proposed scheme is designed to: operate completely in the background, require minimal training period, enable high user recognition rate for implicit authentication, and prompt detection of abnormal activity that can be used to trigger explicitly authenticated access control. In this paper, we investigate threshold computation through standard deviation and EWMA (exponentially weighted moving average) based algorithms. The result of extensive experiments on user data collected over a period of several weeks from an Android phone indicates that our proposed approach is feasible and effective for lightweight real-time implicit authentication on mobile smartphones.

Fuzzy logic-based implicit authentication for mobile access control

In order to address the increasing compromise of user privacy on mobile devices, a Fuzzy Logic based implicit authentication scheme is proposed in this paper. The proposed scheme computes an aggregate score based on selected features and a threshold in real-time based on current and historic data depicting user routine. The tuned fuzzy system is then applied to the aggregated score and the threshold to determine the trust level of the current user. The proposed fuzzy-integrated implicit authentication scheme is designed to: operate adaptively and completely in the background, require minimal training period, enable high system accuracy while provide timely detection of abnormal activity. In this paper, we explore Fuzzy Logic based authentication in depth. Gaussian and triangle-based membership functions are investigated and compared using real data over several weeks from different Android phone users. The presented results show that our proposed Fuzzy Logic approach is a highly effective, and viable scheme for lightweight real-time implicit authentication on mobile devices.

A distributed contention-vector division multiple access (D-CVDMA) protocol for wireless networks

Traditional Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) protocol provides deterministic periodic collision free data transmissions. However, TDMA lacks flexibility and exhibits low efficiency in dynamic environments such as wireless LANs. On the other hand contention-based MAC protocols such as the IEEE 802.11 DCF are adaptive to network dynamics but are generally inefficient in heavily loaded or large networks. To take advantage of the both types of protocols, a D-CVDMA protocol is proposed. It is based on the k-round elimination contention (k-EC) scheme, which provides fast contention resolution for Wireless LANs. D-CVDMA uses a contention mechanism to achieve TDMA-like collision-free data transmissions, which does not need to reserve time slots for forthcoming transmissions. These features make the D-CVDMA robust and adaptive to network dynamics such as node leaving and joining, changes in packet size and arrival rate, which in turn make it suitable for the delivery of hybrid traffic including multimedia and data content. Analyses and simulations demonstrate that D-CVDMA outperforms the IEEE 802.11 DCF and k-EC in terms of network throughput, delay, jitter, and fairness.

Using smart people to form future mobile wireless networks

The concept of a body-to-body network, where smart communicating devices carried or worn by a person are used to form a wireless network with devices situated on other nearby persons. New innovations in this area will see the form factor of smart devices being modified, so that they may be worn on the human body or integrated into clothing, in the process creating a new generation of smart people. Applications of body-to-body networking will extend well beyond the support of cellular and Wi-Fi networks. They will also be used in short-range covert military applications, first responder applications, team sports and used to interconnect body area networks (BAN). Security will be a major issue as routing between multiple nodes will increase the risk of unauthorized access and compromise sensitive data. This will add complexity to the medium access layer (MAC) and network management. Antennas designed to operate in body centric communications systems may be broadly categorized as on- or off-body radiators, according to their radiation pattern characteristics when mounted on the human body.

Novel Radio Link Buffer Management Schemes for End-User Multi-class Traffic in High Speed Packet Access Networks

The requirement to provide multimedia services with QoS support in mobile networks has led to standardization and deployment of high speed data access technologies such as the High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) system. HSDPA improves downlink packet data and multimedia services support in WCDMA-based cellular networks. As is the trend in emerging wireless access technologies, HSDPA supports end-user multi-class sessions comprising parallel flows with diverse Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, such as real-time (RT) voice or video streaming concurrent with non real-time (NRT) data service being transmitted to the same user, with differentiated queuing at the radio link interface. Hence, in this paper we present and evaluate novel radio link buffer management schemes for QoS control of multimedia traffic comprising concurrent RT and NRT flows in the same HSDPA end-user session. The new buffer management schemes—Enhanced Time Space Priority (E-TSP) and Dynamic Time Space Priority (D-TSP)—are designed to improve radio link and network resource utilization as well as optimize end-to-end QoS performance of both RT and NRT flows in the end-user session. Both schemes are based on a Time-Space Priority (TSP) queuing system, which provides joint delay and loss differentiation between the flows by queuing (partially) loss tolerant RT flow packets for higher transmission priority but with restricted access to the buffer space, whilst allowing unlimited access to the buffer space for delay-tolerant NRT flow but with queuing for lower transmission priority. Experiments by means of extensive system-level HSDPA simulations demonstrates that with the proposed TSP-based radio link buffer management schemes, significant end-to-end QoS performance gains accrue to end-user traffic with simultaneous RT and NRT flows, in addition to improved resource utilization in the radio access network.

Investigation of the M2/G2/1/ ∞, N Queue with Restricted Admission of Priority Customers and its Application to HSDPA Mobile Systems

This paper investigates a queuing system for QoS optimization of multimedia traffic consisting of aggregated streams with diverse QoS requirements transmitted to a mobile terminal over a common downlink shared channel. The queuing system, proposed for buffer management of aggregated single-user traffic in the base station of High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), allows for optimum loss/delay/jitter performance for end-user multimedia traffic with delay-tolerant non-real-time streams and partially loss tolerant real-time streams. In the queuing system, the real-time stream has non-preemptive priority in service but the number of the packets in the system is restricted by a constant. The non-real-time stream has no service priority but is allowed unlimited access to the system. Both types of packets arrive in the stationary Poisson flow. Service times follow general distribution depending on the packet type. Stability condition for the model is derived. Queue length distribution for both types of customers is calculated at arbitrary epochs and service completion epochs. Loss probability for priority packets is computed. Waiting time distribution in terms of Laplace-Stieltjes transform is obtained for both types of packets. Mean waiting time and jitter are computed. Numerical examples presented demonstrate the effectiveness of the queuing system for QoS optimization of buffered end-user multimedia traffic with aggregated real-time and non-real-time streams.

CoWiSMoN: A Framework for Cognitive Wireless Sensor Mobile Network System for Emergency Rescue Management

One of the crucial aspects of disaster management of emergency situations is the early assessment of needs and damages. In most disaster situations, higher fatality and increased casualty results from lack of access to timely available emergency services rather than the initial disaster itself. This is usually caused by lack of access to the affected area in order to properly assess the situation for relevant and urgent measures. Cognitive wireless sensor networks provide an opportunity to overcome this situation especially through interconnection via mobile systems. This paper presents a cognitive wireless sensor mobile networks-based framework (CoWiSMoN), designed to offer real-time emergency services to victims and rescue personnel in event of disasters. Critical issues underlying the implementation of such a system are discussed and analyzed.

Population Mobility Dynamics Estimated from Mobile Telephony Data

In the last decade, mobile phones and mobile devices using mobile cellular telecommunication network connections have become ubiquitous. In several developed countries, the penetration of such devices has surpassed 100 percent. They facilitate communication and access to large quantities of data without the requirement of a fixed location or connection. Assuming mobile phones usually are in close proximity with the user, their cellular activities and locations are indicative of the user's activities and movements. As such, those cellular devices may be considered as a large scale distributed human activity sensing platform. This paper uses mobile operator telephony data to visualize the regional flows of people across the Republic of Ireland. In addition, the use of modified Markov chains for the ranking of significant regions of interest to mobile subscribers is investigated. Methodology is then presented which demonstrates how the ranking of significant regions of interest may be used to estimate national population, results of which are found to have strong correlation with census data.

Energy-Aware Rate and Description Allocation Optimized Video Streaming for Mobile D2D Communications

The proliferation problem of video streaming applications and mobile devices has prompted wireless network operators to put more efforts into improving quality of experience (QoE) while saving resources that are needed for high transmission rate and large size of video streaming. To deal with this problem, we propose an energy-aware rate and description allocation optimization method for video streaming in cellular network assisted device-to-device (D2D) communications. In particular, we allocate the optimal bit rate to each layer of video segments and packetize the segments into multiple descriptions with embedded forward error correction (FEC) for realtime streaming without retransmission. Simultaneously, the optimal number of descriptions is allocated to each D2D helper for transmission. The two allocation processes are done according to the access rate of segments, channel state information (CSI) of D2D requester, and remaining energy of helpers, to gain the highest optimization performance. Simulation results demonstrate that our proposed method (named OPT) significantly enhances the performance of video streaming in terms of high QoE and energy saving.

Cross-layer Framework for Fine-grained Channel Access in Next Generation High-density WiFi Networks

Densely deployed WiFi networks will play a crucial role in providing the capacity for next generation mobile internet. However, due to increasing interference, overlapped channels in WiFi networks and throughput efficiency degradation, densely deployed WiFi networks is not a guarantee to obtain higher throughput. An emergent challenge is how to efficiently utilize scarce spectrum resources, by matching physical layer resources to traffic demand. In this aspect, access control allocation strategies play a pivotal role but remain too coarse-grained. As a solution, this research proposes a flexible framework for fine-grained channel width adaptation and multi-channel access in WiFi networks. This approach, named SFCA (Sub-carrier Fine-grained Channel Access), adopts DOFDM (Discontinuous Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) at the PHY layer. It allocates the frequency resource with a sub-carrier granularity, which facilitates the channel width adaptation for multi-channel access and thus brings more flexibility and higher frequency efficiency. The MAC layer uses a frequency-time domain backoff scheme, which combines the popular time-domain BEB scheme with a frequency-domain backoff to decrease access collision, resulting in higher access probability for the contending nodes. SFCA is compared with FICA (an established access scheme) showing significant outperformance. Finally we present results for next generation 802.11ac WiFi networks.