  The verification of the location information utilized in wireless
communication networks is a subject of growing importance. In this work we
formally analyze, for the first time, the performance of a wireless Location
Verification System (LVS) under the realistic setting of spatially correlated
shadowing. Our analysis illustrates that anticipated levels of correlated
shadowing can lead to a dramatic performance improvement of a Received Signal
Strength (RSS)-based LVS. We also analyze the performance of an LVS that
utilizes Differential Received Signal Strength (DRSS), formally proving the
rather counter-intuitive result that a DRSS-based LVS has identical performance
to that of an RSS-based LVS, for all levels of correlated shadowing. Even more
surprisingly, the identical performance of RSS and DRSS-based LVSs is found to
hold even when the adversary does not optimize his true location. Only in the
case where the adversary does not optimize all variables under her control, do
we find the performance of an RSS-based LVS to be better than a DRSS-based LVS.
The results reported here are important for a wide range of emerging wireless
communication applications whose proper functioning depends on the authenticity
of the location information reported by a transceiver.
