Optimization between AES security and performance for IEEE 802.15.3 WPAN

Ultra-wideband (UWB) is a new technology that enables wireless connectivity with consistent high data rates across multiple devices, such as high-definition television (HDTV) receivers, PCs, printers and digital cameras, within the digital home, and the office. In this paper, we focus on UWB transmissions where multiple accesses to the channel are coordinated by the IEEE 802.15.3 medium access control mechanism proposed in the IEEE 802.15.3a task group. Advanced encryption standard (AES), the most popular encryption cipher used nowadays, is used to ensure the security of the transmission. We study the overhead introduced by applying the AES cipher to the transmitted frames. Specifically, we analyze the tradeoff between throughput, payload size, and channel error when AES is used to encrypt the frames.