Authentication for Bulk Data Dissemination in Sensor Networks Using Symmetric Keys
Abstract
Authenticating bulk data dissemination in sensor networks is important as sensors need to verify that the data is truly from a trusted source. There are two ways to achieve authentication: asymmetric key based and symmetric key based. Although previous work has shown that asymmetric key authentication is feasible on sensor nodes if used sparingly, it is still quite expensive compared to symmetric key based approach. In this paper, we propose a symmetric key based protocol for authenticating data dissemination process. Our protocol uses the secret instantiation algorithm for distributing the keys. We apply the symmetric key signatures at the segment/group level and use hashed verification at the packet level. To improve the efficiency in the presence of packet loss/delay, we employ several techniques: the double connected hash chain, the caching scheme, and forward error correction (FEC). We show the effectiveness of our design through simulation. Moreover, since our protocol has much lower cost than the asymmetric key based approaches, it is especially valuable for the burst data dissemination, where the base station authenticates and transmits a moderate amount of data at a time.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA463844
Entities
People
- Limin Wang
- Sandeep S. Kulkarni
Organizations
- Michigan State University