Kemp, Clifford Allen

Future vehicles will exchange safety-critical information messages wirelessly with other vehicles on the road. We must provide secure mechanisms to validate the authenticity and integrity of these messages. The IEEE Standard 1609.2 defines the format of secure messages and identifies security algorithms and mechanism for use in Wireless Access in Vehicular Environment (WAVE). We propose an organizational structure for Central Management Entities (CMEs) to address these goals and functional requirements, and to balance the security of communications with protection of user privacy. A concern in vehicular communications is the privacy of vehicle owners. Privacy must be preserved and the user related information has to be protected from unauthorized access, while the authorities can trace the sender when there is a dispute. This thesis also presents a field operational test using IEEE 802.11a hardware. Vehicular test infrastructures can then be established in a cost effective manner to help support VANET research.