Simulation of physical and media access control (MAC) for resilient and scalable wireless sensor networks

Abstract

The resilience of wireless sensor networks is investigated. A key concept is that scale-free network principles can be adapted to artificially create resilient wireless sensor networks. As scale-free networks are known to be resilient to errors but vulnerable to attack, a strategy using "cold-start" diversity is proposed to reduce the vulnerability to attacks. The IEEE 802.15.4 MAC and ZigBee protocols are investigated for their ability to form resilient clusters. Our investigation reveals there exists deficiencies in these protocols and the possibility of selfdirected and attack-directed denial-of-service is significant. Through insights gained, techniques are recommended to augment the protocols, increasing their resilience without major changes to the standard itself. Since both topological and protocol resilience properties are investigated, our results reveal important insights. Simulation of the physical and media access control layers using ns-2 is carried out to validate key concepts and approach.