Achieving Sink Node Anonymity Under Energy Constraints in Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

A wireless sensor network (WSN) is a distributed network that facilitates wireless information gathering within a region of interest. For this reason, WSNs are relied upon by the Department of Defense for deployment in remote and hostile areas. The information collected by sensors is aggregated at a central point known as a sink node. Two challenges in the deployment of WSNs are limited battery power of each sensor node and sink node privacy/anonymity. The role played by the sink node raises its profile as a high value target for attack, thus its anonymity is crucial to the security of a WSN. In order to improve network security, we must implement a protocol that conceals the sink node s location while being cognizant of energy resource constraints. In this thesis, we develop a routing algorithm based on node clustering to improve sink node anonymity while simultaneously limiting node energy depletion. Via MATLAB simulations, we analyze the effectiveness of this algorithm in obfuscating the sink node s location in the WSN while preserving node energy. We show that the anonymity of the sink node is independent of traffic volume and that the average energy consumed by a node remains consistent across topological variations.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 2014
Accession Number
ADA606882

Entities

People

  • Audrey F. Callanan

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Sensors

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Communication Networks
  • Computer Communications
  • Computer Network Security
  • Computer Networks
  • Data Links
  • Data Transmission
  • Department Of Defense
  • Detectors
  • Digital Communications
  • Intelligence Collection
  • Mesh Networks
  • Network Science
  • Network Topology
  • Sensor Networks
  • Wireless Communications
  • Wireless Networks
  • Wireless Sensor Networks

Fields of Study

  • Computer science

Readers

  • Computer Networking

Technology Areas

  • Cyber