AEF: Adaptive En-Route Filtering to Extend Network Lifetime in Wireless Sensor Networks

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Network Security
• Wireless Sensor Networks

Background:

• Static sink-based wireless sensor networks (WSNs) face an energy-hole problem, leading to faster energy depletion around sinks and on critical paths.
• Existing en-route filtering schemes for WSNs often lack energy awareness in routing and have fixed filtering capacities, failing to adapt to dynamic attack intensities.
• These limitations can cause network partitioning and reduce overall network lifetime.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the energy-hole problem and limitations of current en-route filtering schemes in WSNs.
• To propose an Adaptive En-route Filtering (AEF) scheme that enhances network lifetime, energy efficiency, and security.
• To enable WSNs to dynamically adapt to changing network conditions and attack intensities.

Main Methods:

• Implemented an energy-aware routing approach using a fitness function that considers residual energy and other factors beyond just distance for node selection.
• Introduced a pre-deterministic key distribution method that assigns keys based on paths with varying numbers of verification nodes, allowing for multiple security levels.
• Integrated the adaptive fitness function with the novel key distribution strategy to create the AEF scheme.

Main Results:

• Simulation experiments demonstrated significant improvements in network lifetime under various settings.
• The AEF scheme effectively adapts to dynamic network conditions by adjusting routing and security levels.
• AEF successfully counters false report injection attacks while preserving network energy and security.

Conclusions:

• The proposed AEF scheme offers a robust solution for extending the lifetime of WSNs.
• AEF provides adaptive security and energy-aware routing, outperforming existing methods.
• This approach is crucial for maintaining network connectivity and performance in the face of evolving threats and resource constraints.