An analysis of light weight block ciphers in wireless body area networks

Abstract

The increasing use of wireless communications in electronic environment has raised the use of Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN). In these networks, sensors can be placed on clothes, skin and even under the skin to measure the health parameters like sugar, blood pressure, etc. either internally or externally. These devices can help the users and medical personal in providing continuous health monitoring and can give the feedback. Hence, these sensors can improve the quality of life and even improves health care. As the users medical data is communicated among users and medical personnel through network then the question of security is raised which can be solved through cryptography. Memory, size, power and resources are mainly considered in the aspect of cryptography. As these resources are limited in sensor devices, security can be achieved using light weight cryptography. The term light weight never refers to low security. With the available resources it can provide the security in the maximum extent possible. This paper provides a review on the various light weight block ciphers which discusses about speed, performance, cost and balanced efficiency in hardware implementations.