An Augmented Security Protocol for WirelessMAN Mesh Networks

IEEE standard 802.16 is a broadband wireless access technology in wireless metropolitan access network (WMAN). It promises to provide wireless broadband access to homes, businesses and core telecommunication networks worldwide. Security is a critical concern to the success of IEEE standard 802.16. There has been extensive work on improving the security of IEEE standard 802.16 for both fixed and mobile networks in PMP mode, but thus far there is scarcity of research on security in IEEE 802.16 mesh mode. This paper presents a synopsis of the IEEE 802.16 mesh topology, overviews its security architecture and analyzes weaknesses in the existing privacy and key management protocol. It proposes an augmented privacy and key management (APKM) protocol that provides defense against the security threats present in a wireless environment