Localized authentication for wireless LAN inter-networking roaming

Authentication is an essential premise for deploying wireless LAN inter-network roaming in the real world. The technical challenge lies in the fact that a visited network does not initially have the authentication credentials of a roaming user. Existing solutions require that authentication is performed via three-party communications: user to visited network to home network. In this paper, a new concept that mutual authentication between a visited network and a roaming user can be performed locally without the contact with user´s home network is proposed. This new protocol not only satisfies the roaming authentication requirements, but also has efficiency in terms of authentication time delay.