2023 journal article

A Secure and Efficient Protocol for LoRa Using Cryptographic Hardware Accelerators

IEEE INTERNET OF THINGS JOURNAL, 10(24), 22143–22152.

author keywords: Cryptographic hardware acceleration; elliptic curve cryptography; encryption; energy efficiency; long range (LoRa); long-range wide-area network (LoRaWAN)
TL;DR: A modified LoRaWAN protocol with a hardware-based cryptographic coprocessor that includes secure on-chip key storage for encryption, decryption, and digital signature creation is proposed that reduces the energy utilization of the wireless nodes while addressing several of the Lo RaWAN threat surfaces. (via Semantic Scholar)
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
7. Affordable and Clean Energy (OpenAlex)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: March 18, 2024

Long-range wide-area network (LoRaWAN) is a low-power wide-area network (LP-WAN) protocol developed for low-bandwidth, battery-operated long-range sensors. However, the LoRaWAN specification has several security issues and utilizes software cryptography, which is not energy efficient. Our proposed solution combines a modified LoRaWAN protocol with a hardware-based cryptographic coprocessor that includes secure on-chip key storage for encryption, decryption, and digital signature creation. This design reduces the energy utilization of the wireless nodes while addressing several of the LoRaWAN threat surfaces. This article provides a security analysis of the reduced threat surfaces and demonstrates the improved energy efficiency of the LoRaWAN nodes with the integrated solution.