An Embedded Sensor Node Microcontroller with Crypto-Processors

Abstract

Wireless sensor network applications range from industrial automation and control, agricultural and environmental protection, to surveillance and medicine. In most applications, data are highly sensitive and must be protected from any type of attack and abuse. Security challenges in wireless sensor networks are mainly defined by the power and computing resources of sensor devices, memory size, quality of radio channels and susceptibility to physical capture. In this article, an embedded sensor node microcontroller designed to support sensor network applications with severe security demands is presented. It features a low power 16-bitprocessor core supported by a number of hardware accelerators designed to perform complex operations required by advanced crypto algorithms. The microcontroller integrates an embedded Flash and an 8-channel 12-bit analog-to-digital converter making it a good solution for low-power sensor nodes. The article discusses the most important security topics in wireless sensor networks and presents the architecture of the proposed hardware solution. Furthermore, it gives details on the chip implementation, verification and hardware evaluation. Finally, the chip power dissipation and performance figures are estimated and analyzed.

A secure key agreement protocol for dynamic group

“…Once a user becomes part of a logical group, it can generate all of the subgroup keys to access the subscribed resources. As shown in Figure 3, 3 in cluster 1 is subscribed to 1 , 2 , and , which Common Resources This article is accepted for the publication in "Cluster Computing-The Journal of Networks, Software Tools and Applications" ISSN: 1386-7857 (Print) 1573-7543 (Online) 5 indicates that 3 is part of one major group as well as three subgroups. When it leaves cluster 1 and joins cluster 2 as 4 , cluster 1 runs leave protocol while cluster 2 runs join protocol.…”

“…Various protocols have been proposed for securely and efficiently establishing a secret cryptographic key among group members. The protocols developed thus far can be categorized into three broad categories, as follows: 1) Centralized key distribution and management systems, 2) decentralized key distribution and management systems, and 3) distributed key distribution and management systems [2][3][4][5]. In the centralized approach [11,12], the overall key management complexity is low from the standpoint of a group participant; however, the centralized key management entity is associated with heavy computational and communicational complexity.…”

“…For computational efficiency, secure group communication it is essential, with the group key following a symmetric key algorithm. For example, very efficient public key algorithms, such as ECC [3], need a fraction of a second to execute encryption/decryption procedures, while a symmetric key algorithm such as RC5 [3] needs only a fraction of a millisecond to perform encryption and decryption procedures [4][5]. In SGRS all the cryptographic keys generated, as in the above discussion, are symmetric keys and have a size of 256 bits (32 bytes); hence, in the subsequent section of protocols any symmetric encryption supporting the 256-bit key can be used, e.g., RC5 [3]; Rijndael [24], Twofish [25], MARS [26], and Blowfish [27] symmetric encryption algorithms support the 256-bit encryption key.…”

“…Secure rekeying becomes an even more challenging task in resource-limited networks such as wireless sensor networks (WSNs) [1] and body-area networks (WBAN) [2], as most conventional cryptographic mechanisms and security protocols are not suitable for resource-limited WSNs or WBANs. For example, very efficient public key algorithms, such as ECC [3], need a fraction of a second to execute encryption/decryption procedures, while a symmetric key algorithm such as RC5 [3] needs only a fraction of a millisecond to perform encryption and decryption procedures [4][5]. For computational efficiency, secure group communication it is essential, with the group key following a symmetric key algorithm.…”

Estimating the Lifetime of Wireless Sensor Network Nodes through the Use of Embedded Analytical Battery Models

“…The authors were concerned with memory consumption and the use of computational resources, with the main objective of evaluating the feasibility of the implementation. Panić et al [29] presented a micro-controller specifically designed to support WSN applications with severe security demands. The authors tested the developed chip with known cryptographic algorithms (ECC, AES and SHA-1), observing the execution time, security level and power consumption.…”