An effective emitter-source localisation-based PUEA detection mechanism in cognitive radio networks

Cognitive Radios (CRs) aim at improving the efficiency of spectrum utilisation by making use of the spectrum holes in the licensed radio spectrum which otherwise would remain unused leading to underutilisation of spectrum resources. The idea is to utilise the unused licensed radio frequencies in the absence of the licensed users called Primary Users (PUs) and leave the same when the licensed users return. However, there are several security threats holding back the successful realisation of CR networks. Primary User Emulation Attack (PUEA) is one such major threat in CR networks, in which the attackers disguise themselves as PUs by mimicking the signal characteristics of the PUs, in order to make the legitimate Secondary Users (SUs) erroneously identify the attackers as PUs and hence, vacate the spectrum. It is obvious that such attacks will cause many SUs to lose access to the network services leading to overall performance degradation in the entire network. In this paper, we propose a Hyperbolic-based Transmitter Localisation technique using TDOA to defend against PUEA. The results show successful detection of the PUEA attackers along with accurate positions of the attackers.