Evaluation of LTE/LTE-A Network Security

Running head: WIRELESS NETWORK AND SECURITY
Evaluation of LTE/LTE-A Network Security
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

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WIRELESS NETWORK AND SECURITY
Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Discussion..............................................................................................................................................2
1. Comparison of Existing Cellular Network.......................................................................................2
2. Architecture of LTE/ LTE A.............................................................................................................4
3. Evaluation of LTE/ LTE A Attacks on Access and Core Networks....................................................6
4. Identification and Analysis of High Criticality Attack and Countermeasures for this Attack..........7
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................7
References.............................................................................................................................................9

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WIRELESS NETWORK AND SECURITY
Introduction
The wireless network can be defined as the significant computer network, which utilizes the
wireless data connection within any two network nodes [3]. This wireless network is the specific
methodology, by which the several telecommunication networks as well as business installations are
avoiding the expensive process to introduce or install cables within any building or the connection
within the several equipment locations. These wireless telecommunication networks could be easily
implemented as well as administered with the help of radio communication. The most significant
examples of the wireless networks are cell phone network, wireless sensor network, WLAN or
wireless local area networks, LTE or the long term evolutions, satellite communication network and
many more [8]. The following report will be outlining a brief discussion on the wireless network and
security properly. The specific comparison between the existing cellular networks, the architecture
of LTE or LTE A, the evaluation of the several attacks on this network and the proper identification
and mitigation of such attacks will be provided in this report.
Discussion
1. Comparison of Existing Cellular Network
There are some of the most popular and significant cellular networks in the wireless network
field [11]. Amongst them, the basic examples are LTE, WiMax or Worldwide Interoperability for
Microwave Access, the GSM or the globalized system for all mobile communications, Wi-Fi or
wireless fidelity and many others. The comparison of these popular examples is given below:
Serial
Numb
er
Key
Feature
s
LTE/ LTE A WiMax GSM Wireless
Fidelity
a) Commu
nication
Spectru
m
The significant
communication
spectrum of the
Long term
Evolution
network has
various frequency
allocations of LTE
frequency bands
The significant
communication
spectrum of the WiMax
cellular network are
divided into 11 parts,
which are ELF, SLF, ULF,
VLF, LF, MF, HF, VHF,
UHF, SHF and EHF [1].
The respective
The
communication
spectrum of
GSM network is
divided into 14
frequency
bands, which
starts from
380MHz to
The
communicatio
n spectrum of
wireless
fidelity is from
2.4GHz to
5GHz.

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WIRELESS NETWORK AND SECURITY
[6]. The recent
LTE bands are
between 1 and 22
for the paired
spectrum, and
LTE bands are
between 33 and
41 for the
unpaired
spectrum.
frequencies are 3Hz till
30Hz, 30Hz till 300Hz,
300Hz till 3000Hz, 3KHz
till 30KHz, 30KHz till
300KHz, 300KHz till
3000KHz, 3MHz till
30MHz, 30MHz till
300MHz, 300MHz till
3000MHz, 3GHz till
30GHz, 30GHz till
300GHz respectively [5].
1900MHz [10].
b) Modula
tion
Techniq
ues
The modulation
techniques of LTE
are QPSK, 64QAM
and 16QAM [9].
The modulation
techniques of WiMax
are BPSK, QPSK, 64QAM
and 16QAM.
The modulation
technique of
GSM is GMSK.
The
modulation
techniques of
Wi-Fi are CCK
and QPSK.
c) Medium
Access
Control
Mechan
ism
The MAC
mechanism of LTE
is downlink
through put of
one single LTE cell
that provides the
wide band CQI
feedback scheme.
The MAC mechanism of
WiMax is that it covers
areas at high
transmission speed and
hence giving rise to
802.16x standards [2].
The MAC
mechanism of
GSM is that it is
designed for
maximization
of using the
costly
spectrum. The
protocols here
are PDCP and
RLC.
The MAC
mechanism of
Wi-Fi is
dependent on
throughput,
number of
nodes, battery
power
consumption
and many
others [4].
d) Networ
k Speed
and
Bandwi
dth
Utilizati
on
The speed of LTE
is around 50Mbps
and the
bandwidth
utilization of this
network is that
the radio
The speed of WiMax is
around 40 Mbps and
the bandwidth is shared
within several
terminals.
The speed of
GSM is not
more than 7.2
Mb per second
and the
bandwidth is
divided to 124
The speed of
the Wi-Fi
network is
different in
theoretical
and actual [7].
The