ECE4009 - WIRELESS AND MOBILE COMMUNICATION

REVIEW 2

GROUP MEMBERS SLOT

1. Dwija Vashisht – 16BEC0821 G2+TG2
2. Abinash Panda - 16BEC0741 L11+L12
3. Aditya Prasad – 16BEC0860
TITLE

“Implementation Of AES In GSM Transmission And Reception”

ABSTRACT

The Advanced encryption standard (AES) is an algorithm that

was formerly considered to be the most popular method for
private key encryption. AES is still appropriate for moderately
secured communication. In our project we aim to implement
AES algorithm for voice data encryption and decryption by
using Arduino microcontrollers with a GSM module for
transmission and receiving the encrypted data. The GSM
speech service is secure up to the point where speech enters
the core network. However to achieve end-to-end security it is
desired that the GSM subscriber, not the network operator
controls the encryption on the speech channel. A new
approach of encryption at the user-end will be introduced.

INTRODUCTION

Mobile phones are used on a daily basis by hundreds of millions

of users, over radio links. Emerging wireless networks share
many common characteristics with traditional wire-line
networks such as public switch telephone/data networks, and
hence many security issues with the wire-line networks also
apply to the wireless environment. The GSM system doesn’t
provide end-to-end security and lacks in provision of traffic
confidentiality to its subscribers. Anonymity, authentication,
and confidentiality are the security services which are offered
by the world’s largest mobile telephony system. Still this
system is defenseless against many attacks and fails to ensure
taut safety of the user’s telephone conversations and data
transfer sessions.

Confidentiality of transmitted data is achieved by encrypting

the information flow between the communicating parties. In
GSM networks, only the radio link between the mobile terminal
and the base station is encrypted whereas the rest of the
network transmits data in clear-text. Radio link confidentiality
in GSM is not sufficient for attaining end-to-end security. As a
result, a need for investigating mechanisms for implementing
absolute confidentiality of traffic arises.

Now days there are many situations to keep voice secret in

voice communication. This can be achieved by voice
encryption by using different encryption algorithms. AES-
Rijndael is suitable on all aspects and future research in
optimization techniques will definitely make it the de facto
encryption for resource constrained wireless networks.

Spread spectrum is a type of modulation that spreads data

transmission across available frequency band, in excess of
minimum bandwidth available. Because of its advantages, it is
used in Code Division Multiple Access systems to assign a
unique code to every user. Our project aims to simulate the
CDMA modem using Direct Sequence Spread spectrum.
A DSSS transmitter will convert an incoming data (bit) stream
into a symbol stream. Using a digital modulation technique like
BPSK or QPSK, a transmitter multiplies symbols with a pseudo
random noise code. This multiplication operation will artificially
increase used bandwidth based on length of chip sequence. A
CDMA system will be implemented via these codings. Each
user over a CDMA system will be assigned a unique PN code
sequence.
COMPONENTS REQUIRED:

NodeMCU is an open source IoT platform. It includes firmware

which runs on the ESP8266 Wi-Fi SoC from Espressif Systems,
and hardware which is based on the ESP-12 module. The term
"NodeMCU" by default refers to the firmware rather than the
development kits. The firmware uses the Lua scripting
language. It is based on the eLua project, and built on the
Espressif Non-OS SDK for ESP8266.
AES FEATURES:

NIST specified the new advanced encryption standard

algorithm must be a block cipher capable of handling 128 bit
blocks, using keys sized at 128, 192, and 256 bits.

The features of AES are as follows −

Symmetric key symmetric block cipher

128-bit data, 128/192/256-bit keys

Stronger and faster than Triple-DES

Provide full specification and design details

Software implementable in C and Java

ENCRYTION PROCESS:

1. Byte Substitution (SubBytes)

2. Shift Rows
3. Mix Columns
4. Add roundkey

DECRYPTION PROCESS:

The process of decryption of an AES ciphertext is similar to the

encryption process in the reverse order. Each round consists of
the four processes conducted in the reverse order:

1. Add round key

2. Mix columns
3. Shift rows
4. Byte substitution
PROCEDURE

Pin Configuration of ESP-8266

The ESP8266 is a low-cost Wi-Fi microchip with full TCP/IP

stack and microcontroller capability .The chip first came to the
attention of western makers in August 2014 with the ESP-01
module, made by a third-party manufacturer Ai-Thinker. This
small module allows microcontrollers to connect to a Wi-Fi
network and make simple TCP/IP connections using Hayes-
style commands. However, at the time there was almost no
English-language documentation on the chip and the
commands it accepted. The very low price and the fact that
there were very few external components on the module,
which suggested that it could eventually be very inexpensive in
volume, attracted many hackers to explore the module, chip,
and the software on it, as well as to translate the Chinese
documentation.

In this project first, we will write an Arduino code for the AES
algorithm to encrypt & decrypt the recorded voice signal. Two
separate codes will be written for the encryption & decryption.
Here we will take the 128-bit (16 byte) data as a plaintext and
128-bit key for encryption. The recorded signal will be digitized
and sampled at a rate of 8000 Hz generally a sampling rate of
at least 2f. (According to Nyquist criteria).

AES is a symmetric block cipher that is intended to replace DES

as the approved standard for a wide range of applications.
Figure shows the overall structure of the AES encryption
process. The cipher takes a plaintext block size of 128 bits, or 16
bytes. The key length can be 16, 24, or 32 bytes (128, 192, or 256
bits). The algorithm is referred to as AES-128, AES-192, or AES-
256, depending on the key length. The input to the encryption
and decryption algorithms is a single 128-bit block.

This block will be copied into the State array, which will be
modified at each stage of encryption or decryption. After the
final stage, State is copied to an output matrix. Similarly, the
key will be depicted as a square matrix of bytes. This key will be
then expanded into an array of key schedule words. Each word
is four bytes, and the total key schedule will be 44 words for the
128-bit key. The cipher consists of N rounds, where the number
of rounds will depend on the key length: 10 rounds for a 16-byte
key, 12 rounds for a 24- byte key and 14 rounds for a 32-byte
key. The first N-1 rounds will consist of four distinct
transformation functions: Sub Bytes, Shift Rows, Mix Columns,
and Add Round Key, which are described subsequently. The
final round will contain only three transformations, and there
will be an initial single transformation (Add Round Key) before
the first round, which can be considered Round 0. Each
transformation will take one or more 4×4 matrices as input and
produces a 4×4 matrix as output.

The transmission channel in the project is will be provided by

GSM module. A GSM Module is basically a GSM Modem (like
SIM 900) connected to a PCB with different types of output
taken from the board – say TTL Output (for Arduino, 8051 and
other microcontrollers) and RS232 Output to interface directly
with a PC (personal computer). The board will also have pins or
provisions to attach mic and speaker, to take out +5V or other
values of power and ground connections. These types of
provisions vary with different modules.

GSM module (SIM900) used in project supports a 900MHz band

for communication. GSM modules are manufactured by
different companies. They all have different input power supply
specs. In this project, the gsm module requires a 12 volts input.
So, module is feeded using a 12V,1A DC power supply.

At the receiving end just, reverse process will be used. For the
decryption each stage is easily reversible. For the Substitute
Byte, Shift Rows, and Mix Columns stages, an inverse function
will be used in the decryption algorithm. For the Add Round
Key stage, the inverse will be achieved by XORing the same
round key to the block, as with most block ciphers, the
decryption algorithm will make use of the expanded key in
reverse order.

Encryption of Transmission of
Input Text text using AES Encrypted text
algorithm using ESP8266

Reception of
Further
Encrypted text
proccesses.
using ESP8266
CURRENT PROGRESS:

Till now, we have prepared our wireless device for encryption,

later on we will use the gsm device to decrypt the original
signal. We have also configured our wireless device in the code.
REFERENCES:

[1] Saad Islam and Fatima Ajmal Developing and Implementing

Encryption Algorithm for Addressing GSM Security Issues,
International Conference on Emerging Technologies, 978-1-
4244-5632-1/09 ©2009 IEEE pp 358-361.

[2] Mandar M. Kulkarni, A. S. Bhide, and Prafulla P.Chaudhari

Encryption Algorithm Addressing GSM Security Issues- A
Review, International Journal of Latest Trends in Engineering
and Technology (IJLTET) ISSN: 2278-621X Vol. 2 Issue 2 pp 268-
273 March 2013.

[3] Cryptography & Network Security, Principles and Practice,

Fifth edition, Willam Stallings.

[4]–Advanced Encryption Standard by Example:

http://www.adamberent.com/documents/AESbyExample.pdf

[5]– AES Encryption Library for Arduino and Raspberry Pi:

https://spaniakos.github.io/AES/index.html