On-Demand Anonymous Access and Roaming Authentication Protocols for 6G Satellite-Ground Integrated Networks

Area of Science:

• Satellite communications
• Wireless networking
• Network security

Background:

• Satellite-ground integrated networks (SGIN) are crucial for 6G, but face security and privacy challenges due to network heterogeneity.
• Existing 5G authentication and key agreement (AKA) protocols need enhancement for satellite networks, especially concerning privacy.
• Future 6G networks will feature numerous low-energy nodes, necessitating a balance between robust security and high performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop on-demand anonymous access and novel roaming authentication protocols for SGIN.
• To address the security and privacy challenges in heterogeneous 6G environments.
• To optimize authentication processes for low-energy nodes and facilitate seamless roaming.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a bilinear pairing-based short group signature algorithm for unlinkable authentication in ordinary nodes.
• Implementing a lightweight batch authentication protocol for fast and secure authentication of low-energy nodes, including protection against Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks.
• Designing an efficient cross-domain roaming authentication protocol to minimize authentication delay for terminals connecting to different operator networks.

Main Results:

• The proposed protocols enable unlinkable authentication for ordinary nodes and fast, secure authentication for low-energy nodes.
• The lightweight batch authentication protocol effectively protects against DoS attacks.
• The cross-domain roaming authentication protocol significantly reduces authentication delays, enhancing user experience during network transitions.
• Formal and informal security analyses confirm the proposed scheme's security.

Conclusions:

• The presented on-demand anonymous access and novel roaming authentication protocols are feasible and effective for SGIN in the 6G era.
• The scheme successfully balances security requirements with performance needs, particularly for low-energy nodes.
• The developed protocols offer a robust solution for privacy-preserving authentication and efficient roaming in heterogeneous satellite-ground integrated networks.