ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the security features of Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX). It discusses briefly the architecture and operation of the WiMAX security systems and functions. The chapter describes the details of the WiMAX security system in terms of encryption, authentication, and key management. It covers the subjects on WiMAX security requirements that is privacy key management, authentication and authorization, preauthentication, traffic encryption key updates, and so on with the focus on the security sublayer in the medium access control layer. Authorization is a security process required to determine what services an authenticated subscriber is permitted to invoke. A security association is the set of security information a Base Station and one or more of its client Mobile Stations (MSs) share in order to protect connections across the WiMAX network. IEEE 802.16e also supports seamless handover to allow the MS to switch from one base station to another at vehicular speeds without interrupting the connection.
