Performance of IEEE 802.11 based WLAN devices under various jamming signals
01 Nov 2011-pp 2129-2135
TL;DR: Based on the results, WLAN systems do not seem to be sensitive to the tested short noise jamming pulses and the clear channel assessment (CCA) mechanism of some devices can be jammed very easily by using WLAN-like jamming signals.
Abstract: IEEE 802.11 based WLAN systems have gained interest to be used in the military and public authority environments, where the radio conditions can be harsh due to intentional jamming. The radio environment can be difficult also in commercial and civilian deployments since the unlicensed frequency bands are crowded. To study these problems, we built a test bed with a controlled signal path to measure the effects of different interfering signals to WLAN communications. We use continuous wideband noise jamming as the point of comparison, and focus on studying the effect of pulsed jamming and frequency sweep jamming. In addition, we consider also medium access control (MAC) interference. Based on the results, WLAN systems do not seem to be sensitive to the tested short noise jamming pulses. Under longer pulses, the effects are seen, and long data frames are more vulnerable to jamming than short ones. In fact, even a small amount of long frames in a data stream can ruin the performance of the whole link. Under frequency sweep jamming, slow sweeps with narrowband jamming signals can be quite harmful to WLAN communications. The results of MAC jamming show significant variation in performance between the different devices: The clear channel assessment (CCA) mechanism of some devices can be jammed very easily by using WLAN-like jamming signals. As a side product, the study also revealed some countermeasures against jamming.
Citations
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TL;DR: This tutorial paper addresses the physical layer security concerns and resiliency of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communications; the de facto air-interface of most modern wireless broadband standards including 3GPP Long Term Evolution and WiMAX.
Abstract: This tutorial paper addresses the physical layer security concerns and resiliency of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) communications; the de facto air-interface of most modern wireless broadband standards including 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMAX. The paper starts with a brief introduction to the OFDM waveform and then reviews the robustness of the existing OFDM waveform in the presence of noise, multipath fading, and interference. The paper then moves on to build comprehensive adversarial models against OFDM waveforms. Robustness of OFDM is first investigated under AWGN noise and noise-like jamming attack scenarios, then under uncorrelated yet colored interferences from modulated sources (both intentional and unintentional). Finally, the paper explores some of the more recent developments in the field of energy efficient correlated jamming attacks that can disrupt communication severely by exploiting the knowledge of the target waveform structure. Potential countermeasures against such jamming attacks are presented, in an attempt to make a robust and resilient OFDM waveform.
130 citations
Cites background from "Performance of IEEE 802.11 based WL..."
...Apart from the aforementioned ones, we can find other type of noise jamming attacks such as pulsed and sweeping jamming attack [28]....
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...In [18], [22]–[28] the impact of noise jamming on OFDM-based broadband standards (e....
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19 Jun 2014
TL;DR: This paper presents a jamming detection approach for 802.11 networks that uses metrics that are accessible through standard device drivers and performs detection via machine learning and achieves remarkably high detection rates in indoor and mobile outdoor scenarios even under challenging link conditions.
Abstract: Jamming is a well-known reliability threat for mass-market wireless networks. With the rise of safety-critical applications this is likely to become a constraining issue in the future. Thus, the design of accurate jamming detection algorithms becomes important to react to ongoing jamming attacks. With respect to experimental work, jamming detection has been mainly studied for sensor networks. However, many safety-critical applications are also likely to run over 802.11-based networks where the proposed approaches do not carry over. In this paper we present a jamming detection approach for 802.11 networks. It uses metrics that are accessible through standard device drivers and performs detection via machine learning. While it allows for stand-alone operation, it also enables cooperative detection. We experimentally show that our approach achieves remarkably high detection rates in indoor and mobile outdoor scenarios even under challenging link conditions.
74 citations
Cites background from "Performance of IEEE 802.11 based WL..."
...In general, the impact of jamming can be alleviated by either increasing the robustness of the legitimate signal [11], [15] or by migrating the communication to a different frequency band [14]....
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TL;DR: It is identified that the periodic transmission of preamble-like jamming signals can hinder successful communication despite being up to five orders of magnitude weaker than the signal of interest.
Abstract: In this paper, we evaluate the performance of 802.11p-based vehicular communications in the presence of radio frequency (RF) jamming attacks. Specifically, we characterize the transmission success rate of a car-to-car link subject to constant, periodic, and reactive RF jamming. First, we conduct extensive measurements in an anechoic chamber, where we study the benefits of built-in techniques for interference mitigation. In addition, we identify that the periodic transmission of preamble-like jamming signals can hinder successful communication despite being up to five orders of magnitude weaker than the signal of interest. We further provide the rationale behind this remarkably high jamming effectiveness. Additionally, we quantify the impact of reaction delay and interference signal length on the effectiveness of the reactive jammer. Then, by means of outdoor measurements, we evaluate the suitability of using the indoor measurements as a model to characterize the performance of car-to-car communications in the presence of RF jamming. Finally, we conduct outdoor measurements emulating a vehicular platoon and study the threats that RF jamming poses to this vehicular ad hoc network (VANET) application. We observe that constant, periodic, but also reactive jamming can hinder communication over large propagation areas, which would threaten road safety.
67 citations
Cites background from "Performance of IEEE 802.11 based WL..."
...Additionally, there is some related work on jamming at both MAC [40], [41] and PHY [42] for classical 802.11 WLANs....
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...In [42], it is shown that a constant wideband noise signal is more effective (3–4 dB) than a constant wideband digitally modulated signal at disrupting 802....
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...In Section II, we briefly describe the main PHY and medium access control (MAC) layer characteristics of 802.11p....
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...Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TVT.2014.2325831 (PHY) was modified by reducing the channel bandwidth from 20 to 10 MHz to better cope with multipath fading....
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...The WARP boards are software-defined radios where the PHY processing is realized on a field-programmable gate array, whereas the higher layer processing is performed on an integrated PowerPC core....
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22 May 2018
TL;DR: Experimental results show that for FASST and ACCST remote control systems, the proposed jammer achieves successful jamming at relatively low jam-to-signal ratios (JSRs) as compared to a sweep jammer, therefore requiring less transmitted power to achieve similar results.
Abstract: Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become widely available and their potential unlawful usage introduces new security risks. It has therefore become highly desirable to restrict the unauthorized usage of UAVs in certain areas such as airports, nuclear power plants, etc. Most commercially available UAVs rely on spread spectrum techniques, such as direct sequencing and frequency hopping, in the remote control systems to reduce the impact of interference from neighboring communication systems (including e.g. other remotely controlled UAVs), to increase resistance to jamming and to prevent detection. In this paper, an efficient protocol-aware UAV remote control jamming system is proposed and implemented using an open-source software defined radio (SDR) platform. Experimental results show that for FASST and ACCST remote control systems, the proposed jammer achieves successful jamming at relatively low jam-to-signal ratios (JSRs) as compared to a sweep jammer, therefore requiring less transmitted power to achieve similar results. Furthermore, the proposed jammer impacts other communication systems significantly less than the sweep jammer.
58 citations
Cites background or result from "Performance of IEEE 802.11 based WL..."
...11g), which is in accordance with the findings in [10]....
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...11 based WLAN devices under various jamming signals, including tone and sweep jamming, has been previously studied in [10]....
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...11g) as these modes represent different physical layer technologies and are relatively robust against interference [10]....
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Posted Content•
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conduct a comprehensive, in-depth review on jamming and anti-jamming strategies in WLANs, cellular networks, cognitive radio networks (CRNs), ZigBee networks, Bluetooth networks, vehicular networks, LoRa networks, RFID networks, and GPS system.
Abstract: Wireless networks are a key component of the telecommunications infrastructure in our society, and wireless services become increasingly important as the applications of wireless devices have penetrated every aspect of our lives. Although wireless technologies have significantly advanced in the past decades, most wireless networks are still vulnerable to radio jamming attacks due to the openness nature of wireless channels, and the progress in the design of jamming-resistant wireless networking systems remains limited. This stagnation can be attributed to the lack of practical physical-layer wireless technologies that can efficiently decode data packets in the presence of jamming attacks. This article surveys existing jamming attacks and anti-jamming strategies in wireless local area networks (WLANs), cellular networks, cognitive radio networks (CRNs), ZigBee networks, Bluetooth networks, vehicular networks, LoRa networks, RFID networks, and GPS system, with the objective of offering a comprehensive knowledge landscape of existing jamming/anti-jamming strategies and stimulating more research efforts to secure wireless networks against jamming attacks. Different from prior survey papers, this article conducts a comprehensive, in-depth review on jamming and anti-jamming strategies, casting insights on the design of jamming-resilient wireless networking systems. An outlook on promising antijamming techniques is offered at the end of this article to delineate important research directions.
52 citations
References
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15 Feb 1999
TL;DR: A new metric, expected throughput, is introduced for the comparison of throughput in multi-hop networks, and then used to show how the use of explicit link failure notification (ELFN) techniques can significantly improve TCP performance.
Abstract: Mobile ad hoc networks have gained a lot of attention lately as a means of providing continuous network connectivity to mobile computing devices regardless of physical location. Recently, a large amount of research has focused on the routing protocols needed in such an environment. In this two-part report, we investigate the effects that link breakage due to mobility has on TCP performance. Through simulation, we show that TCP throughput drops significantly when nodes move because of TCP''s inability to recognize the difference between link failure and congestion. We also analyze specific examples, such as a situation where throughput is zero for a particular connection. We introduce a new metric, expected throughput, for the comparison of throughput in multi-hop networks, and then use this metric to show how the use of explicit link failure notification (ELFN) techniques can significantly improve TCP performance. In Part I of this report, we presented the problem and an analysis of the simulation results. In this paper (Part II of the report), we present the simulation in more detail and provide additional results.
880 citations
"Performance of IEEE 802.11 based WL..." refers background in this paper
...It is well-known that TCP will easily fail under bad channel conditions [17], masking the lower layer capabilities....
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01 Aug 1999
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the effects that link breakage due to mobility has on TCP performance and show that TCP throughput drops significantly when nodes move, due to TCP's inability to recognize the difference between link failure and congestion.
Abstract: Mobile ad hoc networks have attracted attention lately as a means of providing continuous network connectivity to mobile computing devices regardless of physical location. Recent research has focused primarily on the routing protocols needed in such an environment. In this paper, we investigate the effects that link breakage due to mobility has on TCP performance. Through simulation, we show that TCP throughput drops significantly when nodes move, due to TCP's inability to recognize the difference between link failure and congestion. We also analyze specific examples, such as a situation where throughput is zero for a particular connection. We introduce a new metric, expected throughput, for the comparison of throughput in multi-hop networks, and then use this metric to show how the use of explicit link failure notification (ELFN) techniques can significantly improve TCP performance.
543 citations
15 May 2008
TL;DR: This paper examines the listen-before-send performance for heterogeneous networks with substantial measured data and shows that, in many cases, 802.15.4 significantly impacts 802.11 performance.
Abstract: Due to recent advances in wireless technology, a broad range of standards catering to a diverse set of users are currently emerging. Interoperability and coexistence between these heterogeneous networks are becoming key issues, and proper mitigation of these issues requires a good understanding of how and why heterogeneous networks may harm each other's p.erformance. In this paper, we focus on the coexistence of 802.11 (wireless LAN) and 802.15.4 (sensor networks) in the ISM band. These networks have very different transmission characteristics that result in asymmetric interaction patterns. Consequently, many studies assume that the impact of 802.15.4 on 802.11 is negligible. In this paper, we examine this assumption in detail and show that, in many cases, 802.15.4 significantly impacts 802.11 performance. Even when 802.15.4 is executing a listen-before-send, which should theoretically prevent interference, a significant 802.11 performance degradation frequently occurs due to disparate slot sizes between the two protocols. This is one of the first papers studying the listen-before-send performance for heterogeneous networks with substantial measured data. The results raise important coexistence issues for 802.15.4 and 802.11 in particular, but even more so for dynamic spectrum sharing between heterogeneous devices in general.
152 citations
"Performance of IEEE 802.11 based WL..." refers background in this paper
...In the literature, some studies can be found on jamming the WLAN systems with continuous wideband noise [2], or signals generated by Bluetooth [3], Zigbee [4], or other WLAN [5] devices operating on the same frequency band....
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...RELATED WORK In the literature, some studies can be found on jamming the WLAN systems with continuous wideband noise [2], or signals generated by Bluetooth [3], Zigbee [4], or other WLAN [5] devices operating on the same frequency band....
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20 Sep 2010
TL;DR: This study will help the researchers to choose the best technology depending of their deploying case and it will be seen that the best technologies for in indoors are IEEE 802.11b and IEEE802.11n.
Abstract: There are several IEEE 802.11 variants to interconnect several wireless devices. Usually, a variant is chosen based on their bandwidth and their coverage area. However, sometimes, there are special cases where the best technology is not the newest one. E.g., in the case where devices are going to transmit at a maximum of 1 Mbps, any choice is acceptable. In this paper, we are going to compare IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n in indoor environments in order to know which technology is better. This comparison will be taken in terms of RSSI, coverage area, and measuring the interferences between channels. This study will help the researchers to choose the best technology depending of their deploying case and we will see that the best technologies for in indoors are IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11n.
37 citations
"Performance of IEEE 802.11 based WL..." refers background in this paper
...For example in [14], no measurement of SJR is provided but the results are given for lost packets and throughput....
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TL;DR: ARES, an Anti-jamming REinforcement System, is built, which tunes the parameters of rate adaptation and power control to improve the performance in the presence of jammers, and improves the network throughput across all test-beds by up to 150%.
Abstract: Dense, unmanaged IEEE 802.11 deployments tempt saboteurs into launching jamming attacks by injecting malicious interference. Nowadays, jammers can be portable devices that transmit intermittently at low power in order to conserve energy. In this paper, we first conduct extensive experiments on an indoor 802.11 network to assess the ability of two physical-layer functions, rate adaptation and power control, in mitigating jamming. In the presence of a jammer, we find that: 1) the use of popular rate adaptation algorithms can significantly degrade network performance; and 2) appropriate tuning of the carrier sensing threshold allows a transmitter to send packets even when being jammed and enables a receiver to capture the desired signal. Based on our findings, we build ARES, an Anti-jamming REinforcement System, which tunes the parameters of rate adaptation and power control to improve the performance in the presence of jammers. ARES ensures that operations under benign conditions are unaffected. To demonstrate the effectiveness and generality of ARES, we evaluate it in three wireless test-beds: 1) an 802.11n WLAN with MIMO nodes; 2) an 802.11a/g mesh network with mobile jammers; and 3) an 802.11a WLAN with TCP traffic. We observe that ARES improves the network throughput across all test-beds by up to 150%.
35 citations
"Performance of IEEE 802.11 based WL..." refers background in this paper
...In [15], countermeasures against jamming of WLANs are studied....
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