Connectivity in Secure Wireless Sensor Networks under Transmission Constraints

TL;DR

This paper derives zero-one laws for the connectivity of secure wireless sensor networks using the EG scheme under realistic transmission constraints, providing critical transmission range thresholds validated by experiments.

Contribution

It introduces the first zero-one laws for secure WSN connectivity considering physical transmission constraints, extending prior work that ignored such real-world factors.

Findings

Established critical transmission ranges for connectivity.

Validated theoretical laws with numerical experiments.

Applied results to frequency hopping in wireless networks.

Abstract

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), the Eschenauer-Gligor (EG) key pre-distribution scheme is a widely recognized way to secure communications. Although connectivity properties of secure WSNs with the EG scheme have been extensively investigated, few results address physical transmission constraints. These constraints reflect real-world implementations of WSNs in which two sensors have to be within a certain distance from each other to communicate. In this paper, we present zero-one laws for connectivity in WSNs employing the EG scheme under transmission constraints. These laws help specify the critical transmission ranges for connectivity. Our analytical findings are confirmed via numerical experiments. In addition to secure WSNs, our theoretical results are also applied to frequency hopping in wireless networks.