Identification of wireless network cards based on signatures of wireless traffic

Wireless Network Card (WNC) manufacturers are capable of implementing algorithms in the IEEE 802.11 protocol dynamically. This fact may allow some WNCs to occupy channels in illegal ways with the purpose of delivering data at higher rates. In order to prevent this occurrence, it is important to develop methodologies to identify anomalies of WNC behavior. In the experiments discussed here, we demonstrate how the behaviors of WNCs can be characterized by analyzing some signatures of wireless traffic. The paper then proposes an approach to identify the traffic patterns of different brands of WNCs and thus classifies the data traffic according to these signatures. Therefore, the work described here is a contribution toward the foundation of a general validation framework for WNCs´ access strategies, an evaluation of their level of protocol adherence, as well as their overall performance in wireless networks.