UAP: A System Authentication Protocol for UAV Relay Communication by UAV-Assisted

In recent years, advancements in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology have led to the emergence of the Internet of Drones (IoD), further enhanced by the capabilities of 5th generation mobile network (5G). UAVs are widely used in various applications, such as disaster assessment, material deliver...

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Main Authors: Chunpeng Liu, Tao Huang, Maode Ma
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10988496/
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author Chunpeng Liu
Tao Huang
Maode Ma
author_facet Chunpeng Liu
Tao Huang
Maode Ma
author_sort Chunpeng Liu
collection DOAJ
description In recent years, advancements in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology have led to the emergence of the Internet of Drones (IoD), further enhanced by the capabilities of 5th generation mobile network (5G). UAVs are widely used in various applications, such as disaster assessment, material delivery, and environmental monitoring, due to their flexibility. However, operating in insecure open environments presents significant risks, making it crucial to complete tasks without exposing sensitive information to attackers or unauthorized users. Additionally, the communication range between UAVs and ground stations is often limited, and if a UAV flies beyond this range, the likelihood of mission failure increases substantially. To address these challenges, we propose a UAV-assisted Authentication Protocol (UAP) based on Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs), leveraging 5G to enable secure relay communication between UAVs and ground stations. We provide formal proof of the protocol's logical correctness and perform cryptanalysis, demonstrating that it effectively resists various security threats, including masquerade and replay attacks. Furthermore, we evaluate the resilience of UAP against multiple security vulnerabilities using the Scyther tool. Finally, we compare our protocol with existing authentication methods in terms of application scenarios, security features, and both computational and communication overhead. We have performed simulations on a Raspberry Pi. The experiments show that UAP has a computational overhead of 0.0826 ms and a communication overhead of 0.0408 ms. The application scenarios and security features of UAP are also considered, making it a solution for UAV applications.
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spelling doaj-art-618a3a8c75dc4e7dbd58e2ec6baea02d2025-08-20T03:16:14ZengIEEEIEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technology2644-13302025-01-0161539155010.1109/OJVT.2025.356707910988496UAP: A System Authentication Protocol for UAV Relay Communication by UAV-AssistedChunpeng Liu0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5008-3671Tao Huang1https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3178-3102Maode Ma2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1438-7018School of Information and Communication Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, ChinaSchool of Information and Communication Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, ChinaSchool of Information and Communication Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, ChinaIn recent years, advancements in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology have led to the emergence of the Internet of Drones (IoD), further enhanced by the capabilities of 5th generation mobile network (5G). UAVs are widely used in various applications, such as disaster assessment, material delivery, and environmental monitoring, due to their flexibility. However, operating in insecure open environments presents significant risks, making it crucial to complete tasks without exposing sensitive information to attackers or unauthorized users. Additionally, the communication range between UAVs and ground stations is often limited, and if a UAV flies beyond this range, the likelihood of mission failure increases substantially. To address these challenges, we propose a UAV-assisted Authentication Protocol (UAP) based on Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs), leveraging 5G to enable secure relay communication between UAVs and ground stations. We provide formal proof of the protocol's logical correctness and perform cryptanalysis, demonstrating that it effectively resists various security threats, including masquerade and replay attacks. Furthermore, we evaluate the resilience of UAP against multiple security vulnerabilities using the Scyther tool. Finally, we compare our protocol with existing authentication methods in terms of application scenarios, security features, and both computational and communication overhead. We have performed simulations on a Raspberry Pi. The experiments show that UAP has a computational overhead of 0.0826 ms and a communication overhead of 0.0408 ms. The application scenarios and security features of UAP are also considered, making it a solution for UAV applications.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10988496/Relay communicationUAV assistancemutual authenticationsessionkey agreementphysical unclonable functions
spellingShingle Chunpeng Liu
Tao Huang
Maode Ma
UAP: A System Authentication Protocol for UAV Relay Communication by UAV-Assisted
IEEE Open Journal of Vehicular Technology
Relay communication
UAV assistance
mutual authentication
sessionkey agreement
physical unclonable functions
title UAP: A System Authentication Protocol for UAV Relay Communication by UAV-Assisted
title_full UAP: A System Authentication Protocol for UAV Relay Communication by UAV-Assisted
title_fullStr UAP: A System Authentication Protocol for UAV Relay Communication by UAV-Assisted
title_full_unstemmed UAP: A System Authentication Protocol for UAV Relay Communication by UAV-Assisted
title_short UAP: A System Authentication Protocol for UAV Relay Communication by UAV-Assisted
title_sort uap a system authentication protocol for uav relay communication by uav assisted
topic Relay communication
UAV assistance
mutual authentication
sessionkey agreement
physical unclonable functions
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10988496/
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