Comparative Analysis Of AES, MAES, And EMAES For Secure Multimedia Communication In Home And Office Wlans

Abstract

Wireless local area networks (WLANs) deployed in home and office environments increasingly support multimedia-centric applications such as video conferencing, smart surveillance, and cloud-based collaboration. These applications require encryption mechanisms that ensure strong confidentiality while maintaining high computational efficiency. The Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is the most widely adopted symmetric encryption algorithm; however, its processing overhead for large multimedia payloads motivates the use of optimized variants. Modified AES (MAES) and its hybrid extension EMAES were introduced to improve encryption efficiency and key management for multimedia data transmission.

This paper presents a comparative analysis of AES, MAES, and EMAES with respect to encryption efficiency, throughput, and security characteristics. The evaluation is based on experimental results obtained from a 180-record multimedia dataset comprising text, image, audio, and video samples. Strengths and limitations of each scheme are examined under current and emerging threat models. A focused review of recent literature (2023–present) highlights evolving requirements for WLAN security and cryptographic optimization. Finally, the paper outlines possible enhancement directions for MAES and EMAES and discusses the consequences of not adopting such measures in future WLAN deployments.