An Efficient Pre-authentication Scheme for IEEE 802.11-Based Vehicular Networks

In vehicular networks, supporting user mobility is one of the most challenging issues. Recently, as the desires for the high mobility and high-quality real-time services increase, fast handoff among base stations comes to a center of quality of connections. Therefore, minimizing re-authentication latency during handoff is crucial for revolutionizing the driving environment on public vehicular networks in terms of safety and convenience. In this study, we propose an efficient pre-authentication scheme for fast and secure handoff in IEEE 802.11-based vehicular networks. The proposed scheme reduces the handoff delay by reducing 4-way handshake to 2-way handshake between an access point and a mobile vehicle station during the re-authentication phase. Furthermore, the proposed scheme gives little burden over the proactive key pre-distribution scheme while satisfying 802.11i security requirements.