# An Integer Programming Formulation of the Key Management Problem in Wireless Sensor Networks

## TL;DR

This paper introduces an integer programming model for the key management problem in wireless sensor networks, aiming to optimize secure communication through effective key distribution based on network topology.

## Contribution

It presents the first integer programming formulation for the q-Composite key management scheme in wireless sensor networks, enabling optimal key distribution.

## Key findings

- The model effectively optimizes key distribution in simulated networks.
- Numerical experiments demonstrate the model's practical applicability.
- An illustrative example shows optimal encryption for a small network.

## Abstract

With the advent of modern communications systems, much attention has been put on developing methods for securely transferring information between constituents of wireless sensor networks. To this effect, we introduce a mathematical programming formulation for the key management problem, which broadly serves as a mechanism for encrypting communications. In particular, an integer programming model of the q-Composite scheme is proposed and utilized to distribute keys among nodes of a network whose topology is known. Numerical experiments demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed model are conducted using using a well-known optimization solver package. An illustrative example depicting an optimal encryption for a small-scale network is also presented.