VTE‐AKA: an optimum vector time encoding scheme for synchronising authenticated key agreements in cognitive radio ad hoc networks

In a hostile wireless environment, a cognitive radio ad hoc network, a robust‐spectrum aware paradigm, is susceptible to spectrum sensing data falsification at the data link layer. In the state‐of‐the‐art literature, distributed cooperative spectrum sensing is considered as a competent technique to ameliorate the performance of primary users (PUs) and malicious users (MUs) detections but synchronising local clocks at secondary users (SUs) remains a major security concern. In this study, an optimal vector time encoding technique infused with an optimised authenticated key agreement scheme, termed as VTE‐AKA is proposed for logically synchronising localised clocks at authenticated SUs. VTE‐AKA competently offers the security attributes viz. key compromise impersonation resilience, known session key security, full perfect forward secrecy, key replicating resilience, unknown key‐share resilience, replay resilience, reflection resilience, and key control resilience. VTE‐AKA is simulated and validated in a cognitive scenario where results validate the adeptness of VTE‐AKA in PU's and MU's detection, average network throughput, and overall channel utilisation.