  Key distribution and renewing in wireless local area networks is a crucial
issue to guarantee that unauthorized users are prevented from accessing the
network. In this paper, we propose a technique for allowing an automatic
bootstrap and periodic renewing of the network key by exploiting physical layer
security principles, that is, the inherent differences among transmission
channels. The proposed technique is based on scrambling of groups of
consecutive packets and does not need the use of an initial authentication nor
automatic repeat request protocols. We present a modification of the scrambling
circuits included in the IEEE 802.11g standard which allows for a suitable
error propagation at the unauthorized receiver, thus achieving physical layer
security.
