An Improved μTESLA Protocol Based on Queuing Theory and Benaloh-Leichter SSS in WSNs

• Published in: Journal of sensors 2016-01, Vol.2016 (2016), p.1-13
• Main Authors: Xinxing, Pan, Xiong, Mingliang, Chen, Tao, Gong, Tianhe, Huang, Hai-ping, Dai, Ting
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Authentication; Broadcasting; Chains; Hash based algorithms; Networks; Remote sensors; Security; Wireless networks
• ISSN: 1687-725X; 1687-7268
• DOI: 10.1155/2016/9021650

Broadcast authentication is a fundamental security technology in wireless sensor networks (ab. WSNs). As an authentication protocol, the most widely used in WSN, μTESLA protocol, its publication of key is based on a fixed time interval, which may lead to unsatisfactory performance under the unstable network traffic environment. Furthermore, the frequent network communication will cause the delay authentication for some broadcast packets while the infrequent one will increase the overhead of key computation. To solve these problems, this paper improves the traditional μTESLA by determining the publication of broadcast key based on the network data flow rather than the fixed time interval. Meanwhile, aiming at the finite length of hash chain and the problem of exhaustion, a self-renewal hash chain based on Benaloh-Leichter secret sharing scheme (SRHC-BL SSS) is designed, which can prolong the lifetime of network. Moreover, by introducing the queue theory model, we demonstrate that our scheme has much lower key consumption than μTESLA through simulation evaluations. Finally, we analyze and prove the security and efficiency of the proposed self-renewal hash chain, comparing with other typical schemes.