RUAP: Random rearrangement block matrix-based ultra-lightweight RFID authentication protocol for end-edge-cloud collaborative environment

Cloud computing provides powerful processing capabilities for large-scale intelligent Internet of things (IoT) terminals. However, the massive realtime data processing requirements challenge the existing cloud computing model. The edge server is closer to the data source. The end-edge-cloud collaboration offloads the cloud computing tasks to the edge environment, which solves the shortcomings of the cloud in resource storage, computing performance, and energy consumption. IoT terminals and sensors have caused security and privacy challenges due to resource constraints and exponential growth. As the key technology of IoT, Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) authentication protocol tremendously strengthens privacy protection and improves IoT security. However, it inevitably increases system overhead while improving security, which is a major blow to low-cost RFID tags. The existing RFID authentication protocols are difficult to balance overhead and security. This paper designs an ultra-lightweight encryption function and proposes an RFID authentication scheme based on this function for the end-edge-cloud collaborative environment. The BAN logic proof and protocol verification tools AVISPA formally verify the protocol's security. We use VIVADO to implement the encryption function and tag's overhead on the FPGA platform. Performance evaluation indicates that the proposed protocol balances low computing costs and high-security requirements.