A Key Management Protocol for Securing Stability of an Intermediate Node in Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

Recent development of sensor and computer technology enabled WSNs (wireless sensor networks) to be expanded. To conserve power from each sensor, intermediate nodes should aggregate results from individual sensors. However, it can make it that a single compromised sensor can render the network useless, or worse, mislead the operator into trusting a false reading. In this paper, we propose a protocol to give us a key aggregation mechanism that intermediate nodes could aggregate data more safely. The proposed protocol is more helpful at multi-tier network architecture in secure sessions established between sensor nodes and gateways. In simulation result, since the proposed scheme distributed key management role to an internal node to avoid parent node's concentrated management, it has 3.5% lower energy consumption load caused by key management; 0.3% and 0.6% more improved key transmission time and process time, respectively, compared with LHA-SP.