Smartphone model fingerprinting using WiFi radiation patterns

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a new method for fingerprinting different classes of wireless devices. Our method relies on the observation that different device types, or indeed different models of the same type (e.g., different models of smartphones), have different wireless radiation patterns. We show in detail how a small set of stationary receivers can measure the radiation pattern of a transmitting device in a completely passive manner. As the observed device moves, our method can gather enough data to characterize the shape of the radiation pattern, which can be used to determine the type of the transmitting device from a database of patterns. We apply this idea to the problem of identifying the model of smartphones present in an office environment. We demonstrate that the patterns produced by different models of smartphones are easily different enough to be identified. Our measurements are repeatably measurable using RSS with commercial-off-the-shelf hardware.