Specific emitter identification for enhanced access control security

Abstract

This paper presents the application of specific emitter identification (SEI) to access control and points out the security caveats of current radio-based access remotes. Specifically, SEI is applied to radio frequency (RF) access remotes used to open and close motorised gates in residential housing complexes for the purposes of access control. A proof-of-concept SEI system was developed to investigate whether it is possible to distinguish between the RF signals produced by two nominally-identical access remotes. It was determined that it is possible to distinguish between the remotes with an accuracy of 98%.