Mobility and Key Management in SAE/LTE

Summary: Often in wireless communications the cryptographic algorithm is con-sidered as ‘the security solution ’ but actually it is only the nucleus. The means for using the cryptographic algorithm is the ‘key ’ used by the algorithm. Thus man-agement of keys and security there-of is an important issue. The security of the key management solution should not impede mobility of devices by adding undue delays. Thus, secure and fast key management during mobility is an important is-sue for the third generation partnership project (3GPP) activity on system architec-ture evolution / long-term evolution (SAE/LTE). In this paper we review mobility and security issues with the focus of key management in SAE/LTE and present possible existing solutions together with their analysis. 1