22 June 2005

Wireless networks get more secure

A secure wireless Ultra Wideband (UWB) data communication network can help sensors monitor U.S. Air Force bases and DOE nuclear facilities and wirelessly control remotely operated weapon systems.

The new wireless technology also promises to be a gateway for a new generation of advanced sensors created by fusing UWB communication with UWB radar and used to detect intrusion of adversaries or insurgents.

This secure form of wireless communication leverages UWB with the unyielding encryption protection of the 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) to form UWB/AES. In an age of electromagnetic warfare and increasing threat from malevolent radio frequency (RF) attacks from high-tech adversaries, UWB can provide stealth for covert operation by hiding within the noise floor to prevent detection and where other forms of RF communication find it impossible to operate. UWB’s probability of survival increases in a toxic RF battlefield when compared to other forms of RF.

UWB, also known as “impulse radio,” is different because it transmits a flood of ultra-short microwave pulses of energy on the order of 100 pico-seconds (1 pico-second is one trillionth of a second or 10^-12 second) in duration that extends over an extremely wide band of energy covering several Gigahertz of frequency.

“With the spreading of impulse energy over such wide frequency spectrum, the signal power falls near or within the noise floor making these signals extremely difficult to detect, intercept, or jam, and when combined with AES, virtually impossible to crack,” said H. Timothy Cooley, senior scientific engineer at Sandia. “Utilizing the immense available spectrum of UWB also improves wireless performance to accommodate the increased data rate needed by advanced sensors.”

Among the key wireless features of the UWB/AES are its IP network compatibility and its “per-packet” rotating 256-bit encryption keys for even greater crypto-protection. The UWB/AES network architecture requires no computing infrastructure, provides real-time (hardware) encryption, and requires zero maintenance for complete self-recovery if interrupted or when a sensor goes down.

Sandia with KoolSpan tested a wireless UWB network bridge with real-time 256-bit AES encryption for live-streaming video images. The tests used only microwatts of transmitted power approximately 1,000 times less power than typically used by conventional wireless IEEE 802.11b or Wi-Fi.

For related information, go to www.isa.org/networks.