Generation of perfectly secret keys in wireless communication networks

A method for generating a perfectly secret encryption key between a first transceiver and a second transceiver during a wireless communication, comprising:

• performing information reconciliation according to multiple common channel impulse response (CIR) estimates of an information string;
• filtering the CIR estimates to produce a predicted set of values;
• generating a difference vector between a current set of estimates and the predicted values to produce a secret key;
• continuously updating the secret key with generated difference vectors;
• performing error correction of the key according to an error correcting code;
• and
• performing privacy amplification.

A method for generating a perfectly secret encryption key between a first transceiver and a second transceiver during a wireless communication, comprising:

• performing information reconciliation according to multiple common channel impulse response (CIR) estimates of a received information string, including:
• sampling the CIR estimates;
• and
• using the samples on a first-in first-out basis to generate a key;
• performing error correction according to a systematic convolutional code;
• updating the key by repeating the performing of information reconciliation;
• and
• performing privacy amplification.

A method for generating a perfectly secret encryption key for wireless communication between a first transceiver and a second transceiver, comprising:

• estimating at each transceiver a channel impulse response (CIR) based on a received radio signal according to a CIR representation common to each transceiver;
• generating a long secret key from a digitized version of the CIR estimate;
• synchronizing a starting point for the estimating of the CIR estimate at the first transceiver and the second transceiver;
• and
• using a non-systematic block code for error correction of the long secret key.

A method for generating a perfectly secret encryption key between a network of a plurality of transceivers during a wireless communication, comprising:

• establishing a respective temporary key between each pair of transceivers, comprising:
• estimating at each transceiver a channel impulse response (CIR) based on a received radio signal according to a CIR representation common to each transceiver;
• generating a long secret key of bits from a digitized version of the CIR estimate;
• synchronizing a starting point for the estimating of the CIR estimate at the first transceiver and the second transceiver;
• and
• generating the temporary key from the long secret key by privacy amplification;
• selecting one temporary key as a permanent key;
• communicating the permanent key to each transceiver while using the respective temporary key.

A transceiver for generating a perfectly secret encryption key in a wireless communication as a lead transceiver with another transceiver, comprising:

• a channel estimator configured to estimate a channel impulse response (CIR) based on a received radio signal;
• an encoder configured to generate a block code for error correction;
• a post processor for producing a digitized version of the CIR estimate as a long secret key;
• and
• a privacy amplification processor configured to generate a perfectly secret encryption key from the long secret key by privacy amplification.

A transceiver for generating a perfectly secret encryption key in a wireless communication with a lead transceiver, comprising:

• a channel estimator configured to estimate a channel impulse response (CIR) based on a received radio signal;
• a decoder configured to decode parity bits received from the lead transceiver for error correction and for synchronization of the CIR estimation with a correlated CIR estimation by the lead transceiver;
• a post processor for producing a digitized version of the CIR estimation by the transceiver as a long secret key;
• and
• a privacy amplification processor configured to generate a perfectly secret encryption key by mapping the long secret key according to a universal hash function which extracts entropy from the CIR estimate and removes any bits publicly exchanged between the lead transceiver another transceiver.

A transceiver for generating a perfectly secret encryption key in a wireless communication as a lead transceiver with another transceiver, comprising:

• a channel estimator configured to estimate a channel impulse response (CIR) based on a received radio signal;
• an encoder configured to generate a non-systematic block code for error correction and to extract entropy from the CIR estimate;
• and
• a post processor for producing a digitized version of the CIR estimate as a long secret key.