Software implementation of the SNOW 3G Generator on iOS and Android platforms

TL;DR

This paper presents a practical implementation and analysis of the SNOW 3G generator on iOS and Android platforms, focusing on optimizing LTE security operations for mobile devices.

Contribution

It introduces platform-specific techniques for implementing SNOW 3G operations and evaluates their efficiency to guide future LTE security implementations.

Findings

Implementation techniques improve efficiency of SNOW 3G on mobile platforms

Analysis identifies bottlenecks in LFSR and multiplication operations

Recommendations for optimizing LTE security algorithms on smartphones

Abstract

The standard for wireless communication of high-speed data in mobile phones and data terminals, called LTE (Long-Term Evolution) and marketed as 4G/LTE, is quickly being adopted worldwide. The security of this type of communication is a crucial factor mainly due to its mobile and wireless nature. This work includes a practical analysis of the SNOW 3G generator used to protect the confidentiality and integrity in LTE communications. In particular, several techniques to perform multiplications and LFSR operations have been studied and implemented on both iOS and Android platforms. The evaluation of those implementations led to some conclusions that could be used to improve the efficiency of future implementations of the standard.