Securing the Control of Digital Beamforming
(2025) EITM01 20242Department of Electrical and Information Technology
- Abstract
- As the number of devices connected via 5G has grown tremendously over the years since its introduction, the number of unused frequency spectra has grown smaller and smaller, leading to more overlap and smaller gaps between neighbouring spectra. To ensure that all current and future devices that occupy these spectra can work together without interference or interruptions in service, care needs to be taken when using the radios attached to each device. This Thesis presents an approach to creating a secure system by securing the control of digital beamforming radios. This was done in three steps, by targeting three different parts of a digital communication line: the transmitter, the transmission medium, and the receiver. Modules were... (More)
- As the number of devices connected via 5G has grown tremendously over the years since its introduction, the number of unused frequency spectra has grown smaller and smaller, leading to more overlap and smaller gaps between neighbouring spectra. To ensure that all current and future devices that occupy these spectra can work together without interference or interruptions in service, care needs to be taken when using the radios attached to each device. This Thesis presents an approach to creating a secure system by securing the control of digital beamforming radios. This was done in three steps, by targeting three different parts of a digital communication line: the transmitter, the transmission medium, and the receiver. Modules were introduced that ensure operations are done correctly and in the right order, that ensure that data does not become something it was not when originally transmitted, and that ensure that radios know that they are connected to a legitimate device.
These three steps were simulated and evaluated individually to ensure each part provided its part of the secure system, and a full system implementation was then done as a demonstration of a fully secure system. More work should be done to further ensure the security of devices using this secure framework. (Less) - Popular Abstract
- Today, almost everyone has a phone, and in the future it seems like everyone will have one. This begs the question, will people be able to have full coverage? Maybe, but one thing is for certain: there needs to be a system in place so that all of these phones do not disturb emergency services or other electronic equipment vital for human activity.
How does one do this? One aspect, which is already in use today, is to create specific emergency frequencies that only these services are allowed to use. Which is all good in theory, but what if a phone has a software bug that tries to communicate on these vital frequencies, or if an evil hacker disrupt the access to these vital frequencies through a phone?
This paper tries to tackle... (More) - Today, almost everyone has a phone, and in the future it seems like everyone will have one. This begs the question, will people be able to have full coverage? Maybe, but one thing is for certain: there needs to be a system in place so that all of these phones do not disturb emergency services or other electronic equipment vital for human activity.
How does one do this? One aspect, which is already in use today, is to create specific emergency frequencies that only these services are allowed to use. Which is all good in theory, but what if a phone has a software bug that tries to communicate on these vital frequencies, or if an evil hacker disrupt the access to these vital frequencies through a phone?
This paper tries to tackle different ways to protect against these type of issues by focusing on the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI)---a communication protocol---used for communication between a phone and its radio, to enable mobile communication between the phone and other phones. The radio of the phone can be seen as the part of your phone that enables you to have access to the mobile network, phone network, and more!
The authors assessed that there were three aspects that were to be the main focus of this study.
The first one, how do you make sure that a phone sends control signals that are not complete rubbish?
Secondly, what if a data glitch occurs that distorts the SPI line, affecting what the radio receives?
Finally, how can you be sure that the radio is talking to an authorized phone?
These three different aspects get evaluated and then integrated into a fully working communication system between a phone and the radio! (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9185197
- author
- Barany, Love LU and Eriksson, William
- supervisor
-
- Erik Larsson LU
- organization
- course
- EITM01 20242
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- report number
- LU/LTH-EIT 2024-1038
- language
- English
- id
- 9185197
- date added to LUP
- 2025-03-05 13:53:49
- date last changed
- 2025-03-05 13:53:49
@misc{9185197,
abstract = {{As the number of devices connected via 5G has grown tremendously over the years since its introduction, the number of unused frequency spectra has grown smaller and smaller, leading to more overlap and smaller gaps between neighbouring spectra. To ensure that all current and future devices that occupy these spectra can work together without interference or interruptions in service, care needs to be taken when using the radios attached to each device. This Thesis presents an approach to creating a secure system by securing the control of digital beamforming radios. This was done in three steps, by targeting three different parts of a digital communication line: the transmitter, the transmission medium, and the receiver. Modules were introduced that ensure operations are done correctly and in the right order, that ensure that data does not become something it was not when originally transmitted, and that ensure that radios know that they are connected to a legitimate device.
These three steps were simulated and evaluated individually to ensure each part provided its part of the secure system, and a full system implementation was then done as a demonstration of a fully secure system. More work should be done to further ensure the security of devices using this secure framework.}},
author = {{Barany, Love and Eriksson, William}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Securing the Control of Digital Beamforming}},
year = {{2025}},
}