Secure data collection using mobile data collector in clustered wireless sensor networks

In wireless sensor network (WSN), lifetime of the network is determined by the amount of energy consumption by the nodes. To improve the lifetime of the network, nodes are organised into clusters, in which the cluster head (CH) collects and aggregates the data. A special node called mobile data collector (MDC) is used to collect the data from the CH and transfer it to the base station (BS). So far in the literature secure data collection in distributed WSN is considered. Here we propose and analyse three protocols for secure data collection in clustered WSN. The protocols use the tree-based key management scheme. The protocols authenticate the MDC and then transfer the encrypted data to MDC. The theoretical analysis shows that the protocols are invulnerable to the compromised MDC and replayed messages. The protocols show varying resiliency to compromised CH. Simulation results show that increased security incurs additional energy consumption in secure data collection.