On a General Theoretical Framework for Radio Frequency Fingerprint-Based Authentication

Computer Science > Cryptography and Security [Submitted on 7 Aug 2026] On a General Theoretical Framework for Radio Frequency Fingerprint-Based Authentication Yuanyu Zhang, Jianing Wang, Shuangrui Zhao, Pinchang Zhang, Yulong Shen, Xiaohong Jiang While radio frequency fingerprint (RFF)-based wireless device authentication has been widely studied across different datasets and scenarios, there still lacks a fundamental theory to explain why and how RFF can serve as a reliable device identity, significantly hindering the practical application of such an authentication technology. In this article, we integrate the RFF modeling with authentication property analysis to propose a general theoretical framework to facilitate the development of such a theory. The RFF modeling process reveals how RFFs are induced, evolved and observed along the transmitter-channel-receiver chain, built upon which, the authentication property analysis process then outlines how the trustworthiness of an RFF should be examined in terms of its uniqueness, stability, distinguishability, and unforgeability. By linking the RFF formation/evolution to these authentication properties, the framework offers a solid foundation for understanding why and how RFF-based authentication is trustworthy in practice. We also discuss the communication-authentication co-design issue based on the theoretical insights from the proposed framework. Subjects: Cryptography and Security (cs.CR) Cite as: arXiv:2608.06805 [cs.CR]   (or arXiv:2608.06805v1 [cs.CR] for this version)   https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.06805 Focus to learn more Submission history From: Yuanyu Zhang [view email] [v1] Fri, 7 Aug 2026 04:59:33 UTC (4,199 KB) Access Paper: HTML (experimental) view license Current browse context: cs.CR < prev   |   next > new | recent | 2026-08 Change to browse by: cs References & Citations NASA ADS Google Scholar Semantic Scholar Export BibTeX Citation Bookmark Bibliographic Tools Bibliographic and Citation Tools Bibliographic Explorer Toggle Bibliographic Explorer (What is the Explorer?) Connected Papers Toggle Connected Papers (What is Connected Papers?) Litmaps Toggle Litmaps (What is Litmaps?) scite.ai Toggle scite Smart Citations (What are Smart Citations?) Code, Data, Media Demos Related Papers About arXivLabs Which authors of this paper are endorsers? | Disable MathJax (What is MathJax?)