A framework for trusted wireless sensor networks

Abstract

Wireless sensor technologies have become increasingly important in a variety of areas, including mission-critical applications. However, there are still many obstacles that we need to overcome before we apply the current wireless sensor network (WSN) technologies. Unlike traditional computing devices in a wired environment, the WSN faces significant challenges from wireless node devices, which usually have limitations in computational power, energy, and their working environment. In this paper we introduce a framework for a trusted large-scale WSN that provides a longer sensor lifetime, cost effectiveness, security, surviv-ability, and scalable management. Our framework uses clustering mechanisms and multiple cluster heads within a cluster where we switch the cluster heads based on their current energy levels or security/survivability reasons. We also present the Extended Random Key Pre-distribution scheme adapted for such a framework. © 2004 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.