Linear approaches to resilient aggregation in sensor networks

• Published in: Journal of mathematical cryptology Vol. 9; no. 4; pp. 245 - 272
• Main Authors: Henry, Kevin J., Stinson, Douglas R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin De Gruyter 01.12.2015; Walter de Gruyter GmbH
• Subjects: 94A60; Agglomeration; Aggregates; key pre-distribution; linear network; Network topologies; Networks; Protocol (computers); Radio equipment; Resilient aggregation; sensor network; Sensors; Stations; Topology
• ISSN: 1862-2976; 1862-2984
• DOI: 10.1515/jmc-2015-0042

A sensor network is a network comprised of many small, wireless, resource-limited nodes that sense data about their environment and report readings to a base station. One technique to conserve power in a sensor network is to aggregate sensor readings hop-by-hop as they travel towards a base station, thereby reducing the total number of messages required to collect each sensor reading. In an adversarial setting, the ability of a malicious node to alter this aggregate total must be limited. We present three aggregation protocols inspired by three natural key pre-distribution schemes for linear networks. Assuming no more than consecutive nodes are malicious, each of these protocols limits the capability of a malicious node to altering the aggregate total by at most a single valid sensor reading. Additionally, our protocols are able to detect malicious behavior as it occurs, allowing the protocol to be aborted early, thereby conserving energy in the remaining nodes. A rigorous proof of security is given for each protocol. We then demonstrate how to extend our linear protocols to tree-based topologies, thereby allowing linear-based approaches to be applied in a much wider range of network topologies.