Methods and devices for short frame protection in a wireless communication network

A wireless communication device in a wireless communication network, the wireless communication device comprising:

• a Radio Frequency (RF) receiver and a RF transmitter;
• a processor, communicatively coupled to the RF receiver and the RF transmitter;
• and
• one or more memory banks, communicatively coupled to the processor and storing processor readable codes that, when executed by the processor, is configured for:
• determining a target transmission time for transmitting a short frame;
• and
• computing an integrity value for protection of the short frame, wherein the integrity value is generated based on the target transmission time and using an authentication algorithm, wherein the protection of the short frame is based on including, within a transmission of the short frame, at least a portion of the integrity value computed by a transmitter of the short frame.

A short frame protection method in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a first network device, a short frame transmitted by a second network device, wherein the received short frame includes information indicative of an integrity value calculated by the second network device based on a target transmission time associated with the short frame;
• determining, by the first network device, a target transmission time associated with the received short frame;
• computing, by the first network device, an expected integrity value for the received short frame, wherein the expected integrity value is based on the target transmission time determined by the first network device;
• and
• verifying, by the first network device, the received short frame, based on comparing the expected integrity value and the integrity value indicated in the received short frame.