Exploiting Redundancy for Secure Data Dissemination in Wireless Sensor Networks

Explotando Redundancia para Diseminación Segura de Datos en Redes Inalámbricas de Sensores

Luis E. Palafox and J. Antonio García Macías

CICESE Research Center Computer Science Department Km. 107 Carretera Tijuana–Ensenada C.P. 22860 Ensenada, B.C., México
e–mail: palafox@cicese.mx , jagm@cicese.mx

Article received on June 18, 2007; accepted on October 24, 2007

Abstract.

Monitoring the environment is one of the main applications of wireless sensor networks. Given that these networks are densely populated and that local variations in the environmental variables are small, a large amount of redundant data is generated by sensor nodes. In this paper we present a protocol for data dissemination in hierarchical clustered sensor networks that integrates security and reduces communication overhead by removing data redundancy from the network. Furthermore, we show that by using our protocol we can provide security to the network without spending additional energy resources, particularly when we are dealing with high levels of redundancy. Additionally, a military monitoring application is introduced as a case study to evaluate the functionality of our protocol.

Keywords: Secure data dissemination, secure data aggregation, redundancy in WSN.

Resumen.

El monitoreo del medio ambiente es una de las muchas aplicaciones de las redes inalámbricas de sensores. Dado que estas redes están densamente pobladas y que las variaciones locales de variables ambientales son pequeñas, los nodos de sensado generan una gran cantidad de datos redundantes. En este artículo se presenta un protocolo de diseminación de datos en una red de sensores jerárquica con clusters, el cual integra seguridad y reduce el sobrecosto de comunicación al remover datos redundantes de la red. Además, se muestra que al utilizar el protocolo se puede proveer de seguridad a la red sin consumir recursos energéticos adicionales, esto particularmente cuando se trata con altos niveles de redundancia. Adicionalmente, se introduce una aplicación de monitoreo militar como caso de estudio para evaluar la funcionalidad de nuestro protocolo.

Palabras clave: Diseminación segura de datos, agregación segura de datos, redundancia en redes inalámbricas de sensores.

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