A cost-aware control scheme for efficient authentication in wireless networks

We propose a cost-aware control scheme to realize efficient authentication in wireless networks based on the user density, mobility, and traffic patterns of roaming users. First, a mechanism to establish and break a direct security association (SA) between two networks is introduced. Then, an authentication cost function is developed to measure the cost for the proposed scheme. We further investigate an optimal condition to minimize the authentication cost, which decides the optimal number of inter-domain authentication requests to establish direct SAs between networks. Finally, we analyze the optimal condition based on user density, mobility, and traffic patterns. Compared to the authentication without control scheme, the proposed scheme reduces the authentication cost greatly with the increasing number of hops, residence time of mobile users, and the arrival rate of inter-domain authentication requests.