FPGA implementation cost and performance evaluation of the IEEE 802.16e and IEEE 802.11i security architectures based on AES-CCM

Software radios are communication devices with different configurations that enable to operate in different communication networks. Considering the OSI model, the main development of these radios is focused on the lower layers, which are implemented in hardware. Security is a key element for using software radios, because they can enter to different wireless networks and use the air like transmission medium, being vulnerable to possible attacks to the transmission of data. Several security architectures have been standardized for different networks, such as IEEE 802.11i-2004 for WLANs (Wireless Local Area Networks) and IEEE 802.16e-2005 for WMANs (Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks), operating on the MAC (Medium Access Control) sublayer. In this work, hardware implementations of these architectures are evaluated in terms of FPGA implementation costs and performance to be considered in a reconfigurable hardware platform, which supports both security architectures, working on the MAC sublayer. For the design of the reconfigurable platforms, it is required to examine characteristics such as hardware resources, throughput and reconfigurable/ nonreconfigurable modules with focus in the software-radio applications. These implementations of the proposed hardware architectures are based on the AES-CCM algorithm that is one of the most important cryptographic algorithms.