Secure localization in sensor networks using transmission range variation

Abstract

In a wireless sensor network, sensors can be randomly distributed in order to collect data from a site. In many cases the location of the wireless sensor nodes is required in order to map the collected data to a particular location. Various schemes have been proposed earlier to estimate the location of sensor nodes in a sensor network. However most of these schemes assume the absence of a malicious user in the system which might not always be true. This paper presents a secure localization algorithm (SLA) that can be implemented with the capabilities of current sensor nodes without the need for any additional specialized hardware. The scheme is based on the transmission of nonces at different power levels from the anchor nodes. A sensor node receives a certain set of nonces which it will have to transmit back to the sink via the anchor nodes. The location of the sensor node can be estimated securely based on this set of nonces. We have investigated the properties of SLA using simulations