Prototype Implementation of a 5G Group-Based Authentication and Key Agreement Protocol
Markus Ahlström, Simon Holmberg · Lund University Publications Student Papers (Lund University) · 2016
The number of machine-type communications (MTC) devices is predicted to increase enormously in the near future, and this increase is expected to be accommodated by 5G. However, the Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA) mechanism used in the fourth generation of mobile telecommunications systems, EPS, may prove too inefficient for handling a large number of MTC devices simultaneously trying to connect. In order to address this issue a number of group-based authenticated key agreement protocols have been proposed. In this thesis we review six of the proposed protocols. For the purpose of implementing such a protocol in a realistic setting, we also review eight open-source EPS platforms of which one was chosen as a basis for an implementation. The main contribution of this thesis is a prototype implementation of a group-based authenticated key agreement protocol designed by Giustolisi et al. Moreover, we provide a detailed specification that aims to serve as a reference for a possible standardization of the new protocol. The secondary contribution of this thesis is a performance analysis of the protocol.