Secure Multi-hop Telemetry Broadcasts for UAV Swarm Communication

TL;DR

The paper addresses secure and efficient all-to-all multi-hop telemetry broadcasts for UAV swarms, tackling mobility, interference, and cyber threats in decentralized mesh networks. It proposes converting flooding into broadcast trees with per-node next-hop information to reduce redundant transmissions on IEEE 802.11 hardware. For security, it outlines a multi-party ECDH group key exchange to establish a shared session key, followed by AES-128 encryption and HMAC-SHA256 authentication with timestamps to guard against MITM, eavesdropping, and replay attacks. The approach targets low-cost devices (e.g., ESP32) and aims to enable fast, secure, and scalable swarm coordination for mission-critical tasks.

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are evolving as adaptable platforms for a wide range of applications such as precise inspections, emergency response, and remote sensing. Autonomous UAV swarms require efficient and stable communication during deployment for a successful mission execution. For instance, the periodic exchange of telemetry data between all swarm members provides the foundation for formation flight and collision avoidance. However, due to the mobility of the vehicles and instability of wireless transmissions, maintaining a secure and reliable all-to-all communication remains challenging. This paper investigates encrypted and authenticated multi-hop broadcast communication based on the transmission of custom IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi data frames.