Energy-Efficient and Resilient Secure Routing in Energy Harvesting Wireless Sensor Networks with Transceiver Noises: EcoSecNet Design and Analysis

Abstract

Cooperative energy harvesting wireless sensor networks (EH-WSNs) using energy-harvesting-based physical layer security (PLS) appears to be a promising way to meet information security and energy efficiency goals at the same time. PLS uses energy harvesting (EH) features to protect data while transmitting. This eliminates the need for traditional upper-layer data encryption. However, this method introduces new challenges, particularly in scenarios where potential adversaries can intercept sensitive information through network relays. When it comes to multihop, multipath cooperative EH-WSNs, it becomes even more complicated to optimize transmit power for EH while reducing eavesdropping risk. In this study, three routing protocols, direct route designation (DRD), casual route designation (CRD), and superlative route designation (SRD) are presented. The protocols will improve multihop, multipath cooperative EH-WSNs’ security in the presence of eavesdroppers as well as noises at the transceiver. In this framework, both source nodes and relay nodes use power-beaming techniques to make their data transmission operations easier. This study goes beyond the protocol recommendations by presenting comprehensive closed-form formulas and asymptotic outage probability analysis for each protocol under various eavesdropping attack scenarios, i.e., coordination and noncoordination of eavesdroppers. According to simulation data, the suggested SRD protocol outperforms the CRD and DRD protocols by 19% and 25%, respectively, when eavesdroppers are not coordinating. The suggested SRD protocol outperforms the CRD and DRD protocols by 28% and 32%, respectively, in terms of eavesdropper coordination.