A Simple Approach for Securing IoT Data Transmitted over Multi-RATs

Abstract

In an mHealth remote patient monitoring scenario, usually control units/data aggregators receive data from the body area network (BAN) sensors then send it to the network or 'cloud'. The control unit would have to transmit the measurement data to the home access point (AP) using WiFi for example, or directly to a cellular base station (BS), e.g., using the long-term evolution (LTE) technology, or both (e.g., using multi- homing to transmit over multiple radio access technologies (Multi-RATs). Fast encryption or physical layer security techniques are needed to secure the data. In fact, during normal conditions, monitoring data can be transmitted using best effort transmission. However, when real-time processing detects an emergency situation, the current monitoring data should be transmitted real-time to the appropriate medical personnel in emergency response teams. In this paper, a fast and secure approach for transmitting monitoring data over multi-RATs is proposed. The presented approach consists of benefiting of the presence of multi-RATs in order to exchange the secrecy information more efficiently while optimizing the transmission time.