Hyperbolic location estimation of malicious nodes in mobile WiFi/802.11 networks

Abstract

Hyperbolic position bounding (HPB) provides a mechanism to probabilistically delimit the location of a wireless network malicious insider to a candidate area. A large scale path loss model is used to construct a probable distance difference range between a rogue transmitter and a pair of trusted receivers. Hyperbolas are constructed at the minimum and maximum bounds of this range to delineate the position of a rogue with a given confidence level. We describe an outdoor experiment with a WiFi/802.11 network. Measured received signal strength (RSS) values, as well as path loss parameters obtained from signal propagation losses, are used by HPB to bound the location of a mobile transmitter within the WiFi/802.11 network with a degree of confidence. Experimental results are compared against prior simulation results and found to be consistent.