Problem
Research questions and friction points this paper is trying to address.
Post-Quantum Cryptography
Energy Consumption
5G Network
Embedded User Equipment
TLS Handshake
Energy-Aware System-Level Evaluation of Post-Quantum TLS on Embedded User Equipment over a Disaggregated 5G Network
🤖 AI Summary
This study investigates the efficient deployment of post-quantum secure TLS protocols in embedded user equipment under 5G disaggregated architectures, with a balanced focus on energy consumption and performance. Leveraging a Raspberry Pi 5 platform, it presents the first real-world evaluation on an embedded 5G end device that integrates high-precision onboard power measurement with system-level analysis to assess the latency and energy overhead of NIST-standardized post-quantum signature schemes and key encapsulation mechanisms (KEMs) during TLS handshakes. The results demonstrate that lattice-based signatures significantly outperform hash-based alternatives in terms of security, efficiency, and scalability—hash-based schemes incur up to 4× higher latency and 2× greater energy consumption. The primary system bottlenecks stem from cryptographic computation and concurrency contention, rather than network transmission.
📝 Abstract
The transition to quantum-resistant security is a critical priority for the next generation of mobile networks, particularly within the disaggregated architecture of 5G. This paper presents an energy-aware system-level evaluation of Post- Quantum Cryptography (PQC) integrated into the Transport Layer Security (TLS) handshake on embedded User Equipment (UE). Using Raspberry Pi 5s as representative embedded processing platforms, we evaluate the performance of NIST-standardized combinations of classical and post-quantum signature and key exchange mechanisms (KEM), incorporating direct on-device power measurements to estimate per-handshake energy consumption. Results experimentally validate a strong coupling between latency and energy consumption, indicating that execution time is the dominant contributor to energy cost. Hash-based signature schemes incur up to 4x higher latency and 2x energy compared to lattice-based alternatives, while the impact of KEMs is comparatively smaller. The analysis further reveals that overall system performance is primarily constrained by cryptographic computation and concurrency-induced contention rather than network transport effects. These findings provide practical guidance for PQC deployment in mobile environments and demonstrate that lattice-based signatures offer a more favorable balance between security, efficiency, and scalability for 5G systems.
Innovation
Methods, ideas, or system contributions that make the work stand out.
Post-Quantum Cryptography
Energy-Aware Evaluation
Embedded User Equipment
5G Disaggregated Architecture
TLS Handshake
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