Improving Availability of Secure Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract: As wireless sensor networks continue to grow, so does the need for effective security mechanisms. But one of the main challenges for efficient key distribution in wireless sensor networks is the resource limitation. Some nodes play a central role in key distribution. For example, cluster heads in the LEAP security protocol have the main responsibility for key distribution to their cluster nodes. Therefore, they use more resources than other nodes in their cluster. In case of a cluster head failure, e.g. battery wear out, all nodes within the cluster lose their connection to the base station and considered dead by the base station although the cluster nodes are alive. The unavailability of the base station has a similar implication too, but in a wider extent covering all live cluster heads and cluster nodes in the network leading to the failure of the whole network. This paper presents a new energy aware key distribution solution to enhance the availability of a secure wireless sensor network environment by increasing the lifetime of all constituents of the network including the base station, cluster heads and cluster nodes