Method and system for secure data aggregation in wireless sensor networks

• US 8,000,468 B2
• Filed: 11/30/2007
• Issued: 08/16/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Inventors: Huang, Shih-I
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoffman; Brandon S
• Application Number:
  US11/987,529
• Publication Number:
  US 20090141898A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,355 Days
• Field of Search: 380/28, 380/255
• US Class Current: 380/28
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/805 Lightweight hardware, e.g. radio-frequency identification [RFID] or sensor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0833 involving conference or group key network architectures or network communication protocols for key management in group communication in a packet data network H04L63/065

Abstract

A method for transmitting sensed data in a wireless sensor network including multiple sensors and a database, the method includes: automatically dividing the multiple sensors into sensor groups, each of the sensor groups including at least one sensor; determining a lead sensor in each of the sensor groups; encrypting the sensed data to generate encrypted data in ones of the multiple sensors excluding the determined lead sensors; and transmitting the encrypted data.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting sensed data in a wireless sensor network including multiple sensors and a database, the method comprising:

automatically dividing the multiple sensors into sensor groups, each of the sensor groups including at least one sensor;

determining a lead sensor in each of the sensor groups;

encrypting the sensed data to generate encrypted data in ones of the multiple sensors excluding the determined lead sensors; and

transmitting the encrypted data by;

determining that the sensed data from a first one of the multiple sensors is different from the sensed data from others of the multiple sensors without decrypting the encrypted data; and

transmitting the encrypted sensed data determined to be different.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the lead sensor comprises selecting, in each of the sensor groups, a one of the sensors having most power in the sensor group as the lead sensor in the sensor group.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the lead sensor comprises selecting, in each of the sensor groups, a one of the sensors having a minimum received signal strength from remaining ones of the sensors in the sensor group as the lead sensor in the sensor group.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the lead sensor comprises selecting, in each of the sensor groups, a one of the sensors having a minimum average distance to remaining ones of the sensors in the sensor group as the lead sensor in the sensor group.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the lead sensor comprises randomly selecting, in each of the sensor groups, a one of the sensors in the sensor group as the lead sensor in the sensor group.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the ones of the multiple sensors excluding the determined lead sensors are non-lead sensors, the encrypting further comprising:

generating a first part of the encrypted data by performing M_i⊕

g(K_i^EK)⊕

K_i^EK,wherein m_i denotes the sensed data of an i^th one of the non-lead sensors, “

⊕

”

denotes an exclusive OR operation, g denotes a one-way hash function, and K_i^EK denotes an encryption key;

generating a second part of the encrypted data by performing K_i^EK⊕

K_i^VK, wherein K_i^VK denotes an verification key; and

concatenating the first part of the encrypted data and the second part of the encrypted data to generate the encrypted data.

7. The method of claim 6, further including randomly generating the encryption key in the i^th one of the non-lead sensors.

8. The method of claim 6, further including pre-installing the verification key in the i^th one of the non-lead sensors.

9. The method of claim 6, further including pre-installing a different verification key in each of the non-lead sensors.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein transmitting the encrypted data comprises one of the lead sensors transmitting the encrypted data to the database and the database processing the encrypted data, wherein the processing comprises:

performing an exclusive OR operation on the verification key and the second part of the encrypted data to obtain the encryption key; and

performing exclusive OR operations on the encryption key, the one-way hash function of the encryption key, and the first part of the encrypted data.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the encrypted data comprises a first sensor in a first one of the sensor groups transmitting the encrypted data to a second sensor in the first sensor group, the second sensor being the lead sensor of the first sensor group.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the encrypted data comprises a first sensor in a first one of the sensor groups transmitting the encrypted data to a second sensor in a second one of the sensor groups, the first and second sensors being the lead sensors of the first and second sensor groups, respectively.

13. A method for aggregating sensed data in a wireless sensor network including multiple sensors and a database, the method comprising:

automatically dividing the multiple sensors into sensor groups, each of the sensor groups including at least one sensor;

determining a lead sensor in each of the sensor groups;

encrypting the sensed data to generate encrypted data in ones of the multiple sensors excluding the determined lead sensors;

receiving, by the lead sensors, the encrypted data; and

aggregating, by the lead sensors, the received data by;

determining that the sensed data from a first one of the multiple sensors is different from the sensed data from others of the multiple sensors without decrypting the encrypted data; and

transmitting the encrypted sensed data determined to be different.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein determining the lead sensor comprises selecting, in each of the sensor groups, a one of the sensors having most power in the sensor group as the lead sensor in the sensor group.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein determining the lead sensor comprises selecting, in each of the sensor groups, a one of the sensors having a minimum received signal strength from remaining ones of the sensors in the sensor group as the lead sensor in the sensor group.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein determining the lead sensor comprises selecting, in each of the sensor groups, a one of the sensors having a minimum average distance to remaining ones of the sensors in the sensor group as the lead sensor in the sensor group.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein determining the lead sensor comprises randomly selecting, in each of the sensor groups, a one of the sensors in the sensor group as the lead sensor in the sensor group.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the ones of the multiple sensors excluding the determined lead sensors are non-lead sensors, the encrypting further comprising:

generating a first part of the encrypted data by performing m_i⊕

g(K_i^EK)⊕

K_i^EK, wherein m_i denotes the sensed data of an i^th one of the non-lead sensors, “

⊕

”

denotes an exclusive OR operation, g denotes a one-way hash function, and K_i^EK denotes an encryption key;

generating a second part of the encrypted data by performing K_i^EK ⊕

K_i^VK, wherein K_i^VK denotes an verification key; and

concatenating the first part of the encrypted data and the second part of the encrypted data to generate the encrypted data.

19. The method of claim 18, further including randomly generating the encryption key in the i^th one of the non-lead sensors.

20. The method of claim 18, further including pre-installing the verification key in the i^th one of the non-lead sensors.

21. A system for transmitting sensed data in a wireless sensor network, the system comprising multiple sensors, wherein the multiple sensors are configured to:

automatically form sensor groups;

determine a lead sensor in each of the sensor groups;

encrypt the sensed data to generate encrypted data in ones of the multiple sensors excluding the determined lead sensors;

wirelessly receive, by the lead sensors, the encrypted data; and

aggregate the received data in the lead sensors,

wherein the lead sensors are each configured to determine that the sensed data from a first one of the multiple sensors is different from the sensed data from others of the multiple sensors without decrypting the encrypted data and to transmit the encrypted sensed data determined to be different.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising a database configured to receive the aggregated data from ones of the lead sensors.