Parallel scalar multiplication on elliptic curves in wireless sensor networks

Abstract

In event-driven sensor networks, when a critical event occurs, sensors should transmit quickly and securely messages back to base station. We choose Elliptic Curve Cryptography to secure the network since it offers faster computation and good security using shorter keys than RSA. In order to minimize the computation time, we propose to distribute the computation of scalar multiplications on elliptic curves by involving neighbor nodes in this operation. The results of performance tests show that parallel computing certainly consumes much more resources, however it reduces considerably the computation time of scalar multiplications. This method is applicable in event-driven applications when execution time is the most critical factor. © Springer-Verlag 2013.