On the Energy Cost of Post-Quantum Key Establishment in Wireless Low-Power Personal Area Networks

2026-02-20

AI Summary

This work addresses the significant energy overhead introduced by post-quantum key exchange (PQKE) in low-power personal area networks such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), where large PQKE message sizes cause severe packet fragmentation and prolonged radio activity. Through empirical evaluation on real hardware, detailed energy modeling, and analysis of fragmented transmission behavior, this study quantifies—for the first time—the relative contributions of communication versus cryptographic computation to total energy consumption. It reveals that communication overhead, often overlooked, dominates total energy cost by a wide margin. The findings underscore the necessity of co-optimizing protocol parameters and underlying communication mechanisms to achieve practical quantum-safe security. This work provides both a new perspective for designing energy-efficient PQKE protocols and actionable guidance for developers and standards bodies aiming to transition personal area networks toward post-quantum security.

Technology Category

• Machine Learning: Quantum Machine Learning
• Application Domains: Security
• Data Mining & Knowledge Management: Scalability, Parallel & Distributed Systems

Application Category

• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Energy management for devices in mobile Web and WoT environments
• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Attacks and countermeasures in recommendation systems

Abstract

Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) creates payloads that strain the timing and energy budgets of Personal Area Networks. In post-quantum key exchange (PQKE), this causes severe fragmentation, prolonged radio activity, and high transmission overhead on low-power devices. Prior work optimizes cryptographic computation but largely ignores communication cost. This paper separates computation and communication costs using Bluetooth Low Energy as a representative platform and validates them on real hardware. Results show communication often dominates PQKE energy, exceeding cryptographic cost. Efficient quantum-resilient pairing therefore requires coordinated protocol configuration and lower-layer optimization. This work provides developers a practical way to reason about PQC energy trade-offs and informs the evolution of PAN standards toward quantum-safe operation.

Problem

• Post-Quantum Cryptography
• Energy Cost
• Low-Power Personal Area Networks
• Communication Overhead
• Key Establishment

Innovation

• Post-Quantum Cryptography
• Energy Cost
• Bluetooth Low Energy
• Communication Overhead
• Key Exchange