Multistage security mechanism for hybrid, large scale wireless sensor networks

Abstract

A wide area network consisting of ballistic missile defense satellites and terrestrial nodes can be viewed as a hybrid, large-scale mobile wireless sensor network. Building on research in the areas of the wireless sensor networks (WSN) and the mobile ad hoc networks (MANET), this thesis proposes an efficient multistage security mechanism for node and data authentication and data confidentiality. Node authentication is provided by digital signatures and the public key infrastructure (PKI). The TESLA algorithm and IPSec are utilized for data authentication and confidentiality, respectively. Performance analysis and simulation results demonstrate that the proposed mechanism meets the real-time data dissemination requirements of a ballistic missile defense system while maintaining throughput commensurate with unencrypted Internet Protocol (IP).