EDSSR: a secure and power-aware opportunistic routing scheme for WSNs

Area of Science:

• Computer Science
• Network Security
• Wireless Sensor Networks

Background:

• Existing Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) routing protocols often lack robust security measures, leaving them vulnerable to attacks.
• Reactive protocols, while bandwidth-efficient, increase security risks due to the resource demands of proactive routing.
• Conventional security models are unsuitable for WSNs due to their ad hoc nature and energy constraints.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel routing scheme, the Secured Energy-Efficient Opportunistic Routing Scheme (EDSSR), for sustainable WSNs.
• To enhance WSN security by continuously updating neighbor information and validating routing parameters.
• To address the critical energy constraints inherent in WSN environments.

Main Methods:

• Developed the EDSSR protocol, incorporating continuous neighbor information updates and routing parameter validation.
• Designed EDSSR to be power-aware, prioritizing energy efficiency for WSNs.
• Conducted simulation experiments to evaluate EDSSR's performance against key metrics.

Main Results:

• EDSSR demonstrated significant improvements in network performance, including throughput, End-to-End delay, and energy consumption.
• The protocol showed substantial gains in sum goodput, average delay, energy consumption, and the number of alive nodes.
• EDSSR was found to be 2-3% faster than DLAMD and 10-13% faster than EEFCR, with a 23% increase in malware detection rate.

Conclusions:

• The EDSSR protocol effectively enhances security and energy efficiency in Wireless Sensor Networks.
• EDSSR offers a viable solution for mitigating WSN vulnerabilities while maintaining network sustainability.
• The proposed scheme provides a significant performance improvement over existing routing protocols.