Security analysis and improvements of IEEE standard 802.16 in next generation wireless metropolitan access network

Next generation communications (NGC) represents advanced communication environments featuring objects that are focused on users. It is crucial to protect information and digital forensics for NGC. In this paper, we aim to address network security for NGC, including IEEE standard 802.16 that are associated with NGC utilization. The IEEE standard 802.16 is a wireless air interface technology in Wireless Metropolitan Access Network (WMAN). Now in the new era of wireless networking, it is the solution for last mile problem. Point-to-MultiPoint (PMP) network architecture network mode and mesh network mode are two optional networking modes proposed in this standard. However, the security problems in its original protocol may be becoming the most serious obstacle in its marketable producing process. In this paper, explanation and analysis of the security mechanism are based on PMP and mesh networking modes, respectively. This paper focuses on authentication & authorization, which is the most important part but not explicitly defined in original security design of IEEE standard 802.16. Two improved schemes focused on authentication & authorization based on the two modes are proposed to strengthen 802.16 WMAN security, respectively. The relevant analysis and simulation results prove that our schemes are effective.