Method and system for secured communication of control information in a wireless network environment

A transmitting station for securing control information in a wireless communication environment, the transmitting station comprising:

• a memory unit configured to store one or more of information and a set of instructions;
• a transmitter configured to transmit information to a receiving station;
• and
• one or more processors configured to generate one or more security keys for securing a first type of control information and one or more security keys for securing a second type of control information, to compute a first type of counter for the first type of control information and a second type of counter for the second type of control information, to compute a first type of Cipher based Message Authentication Code (CMAC) for the first type of control information and a second type of CMAC for the second type for control information, to secure the first type of control information using the first tyre of CMAC, the first type of counter and the one or more security keys derived for the first type of control information, and to secure securing the second type of control information using the second type of CMAC, the second type of counter, and the one or more security keys derived for the second type of control information.

A method of processing a signaling header received from a transmitting station, comprising:

• determining whether a signaling header received from the transmitting station is protected;
• validating a counter value in the signaling header;
• determining a frame number of a frame in which the signaling header is received from the transmitting station if the counter value is valid;
• computing a Cipher based Message Authentication Code (CMAC) value based on the counter value, the frame number, an authentication key identifier, a mobile station logical address, a flow identifier, and the content of the signaling header;
• determining whether the computed CMAC value matches the CMAC value in the signaling header;
• and
• processing the content of the signaling header if the computer CMAC value matches with the CMAC value in the signaling header.

A receiving station for processing a signaling header received from a transmitting station, the receiving station comprising:

• a memory unit configured to store one or more of information and a set of instructions;
• a receiver configured to transmit information from a transmitting station;
• and
• one or more processors configured to determine whether a signaling header received from the transmitting station is protected, to validate a counter value in the signaling header, to determine a frame number of a frame in which the signaling header is received from the transmitting station if the counter value is valid, to compute a Cipher based Message Authentication Code (CMAC) value based on the counter value, the frame number, an authentication key identifier, a mobile station logical address, a flow identifier, and the content of the signaling header, to determine determining whether the computed CMAC value matches the CMAC value in the signaling header, and to process the content of the signaling header if the computer CMAC value matches with the CMAC value in the signaling header.