Decentralized Privacy-Preserving Path Validation for Multi-Slicing-Authority 5G Networks

Path validation assures operational integrity in 5G networks with various network infrastructures where nodes en route are operated by multiple untrusted network slicing authorities. However, in order to correctly validate a path, traditional solutions require the entire path to be revealed to all parties involved, which may potentially expose the network structure to malicious attackers. In this work, we propose a decentralized privacy-preserving path validation protocol utilizing XOR, hashing and Non-interactive zero-knowledge proof (NIZK) that guarantees security and privacy but circumvents performance compromise. We tested our protocols in a simulated multi-authority network to show how the privacy-preserving path validation can protect node privacy without significantly degrading performance.

I. Introduction

Network slicing in 5G networks [1] is designed to utilize resources from different Internet infrastructures to satisfy the Quality of Service (QoS) requirements from users, of which one of the most common applications is to provide dynamic content delivery paths across various infrastructures for users of different service levels. To guarantee promised services as well as enforce correct orders of network operation, network infrastructure operators ought to deploy path validation protocols in such tasks especially when they do not trust but have to work with each other. Path validation enforces packets to be delivered on agreed paths and verifies whether delivery contracts are properly fulfilled afterwards [2].