Integrating LPWAN Technologies in the 5G Ecosystem: A Survey on Security Challenges and Solutions

Abstract

The convergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) and 5G will open a range of opportunities for the deployment of enhanced sensing, actuating and interactive systems as well as the development of novel services and applications in a plethora of fields. Given the processing and communication limitations of both IoT devices and the most novel IoT transmission technologies, namely, Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN), there are notable concerns regarding certain security issues to be overcome in order to achieve a successful integration of LPWAN systems within 5G architectures. In this survey work, we analyze the main security characteristics of LPWANs, specially focusing on network access, and contrast them with 5G security requirements and procedures. Besides, we present a comprehensive review and analysis of research works proposing security solutions for the 5G-LPWAN integration. Finally, we explore open issues and challenges in the field and draw future research directions. From our analysis, it is evident that many efforts are being devoted from the academia, industry and Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs) for achieving the desired confluence of IoT and 5G worlds. We envision a successful integration of both ecosystems by exploiting novel lightweight security schemes addressing the stringent security requirements of 5G while being assumable by constrained IoT devices.