Asymmetric Key Pre-distribution Scheme for sensor networks

A key pre-distribution scheme is a method by which initially an off-line trusted authority distributes pieces of information among a set of users. Later, each member of a group of users can compute a common key for secure communication. In this paper we present an asymmetric key pre-distribution scheme. Instead of assuming that the network is comprised entirely of identical users in conventional key pre-distribution schemes, the network now consists of a mix of users with different missions, i.e., ordinary users and keying material servers. A group of users, using secret keys preloaded in their memory and public keying material retrieved from one keying material server, can compute a session key. The properties of this method are that, the compromise of keying material servers does not reveal any information about users´ secret keys and the session keys of privileged subset of users; if computational assumptions are considered, each user has very low storage requirement. These properties make it attractive for sensor networks. We first formally define the asymmetric key pre-distribution scheme in terms of the entropy and give lower bounds on user´s storage requirement and the public keying material size. Then, we present its constructions and applications for sensor networks.