A self-adaptive K selection mechanism for re-authentication load balancing in large-scale systems

Since the 802.16e standard has been released, there are few authentication pattern schemes and Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) selection proposals for manufacturers to choose from in large-scale network systems. This paper focuses on the re-authentication method’s design, improvement, and optimization for the PMP mode of the IEEE 802.16e standard in large-scale network systems to ensure the security of the keys. We first present an optimized scheme, called EAP_AKAY, based on the EAP-AKA authentication method (Arkko and Haverinen in Extensible Authentication Protocol Method for UMTS Authentication and Key Agreement (EAP-AKA), 2004), and then a self-adaptive K selection mechanism is proposed for re-authentication load balancing based on EAP_AKAY in large-scale network systems. This presented mechanism considers the cost of authentication, not only at the server end, but also at the client end. Thus, this scheme would minimize the total cost and resolve the limitation in current schemes. Furthermore, the K value would be re-selected, not only when MS is roaming to another BS region, but also in residing time to adapt to network environment changes. The simulation results and relevant analysis demonstrate that our scheme is effective in terms of the total cost of authentication, master key renewal, and good security.