Bruno Trevizan de Oliveira

TinySDN: Enabling multiple controllers for software-defined wireless sensor networks

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) has been envisioned as a way to reduce the complexity of network configuration and management, enabling innovation in production networks. While SDN started focusing on wired networks, there were proposals specifically for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN), but all of them required a single controller to be coupled to the sink. This paper presents TinySDN, a TinyOS-based SDN framework that enables multiple controllers within the WSN. It comprises two main components: the SDN-enabled sensor node, which has an SDN switch and an SDN end device, and the SDN controller node, where the control plane is programmed. TinySDN was designed and implemented to be hardware independent. Experiments were conducted on COOJA simulator, and results concerning delay and memory footprint are presented.

Decentralizing SDN's control plane

Motivated by the internets of the future, which will likely be considerably larger in size as well as highly heterogeneous and decentralized, we propose Decentralize-SDN, D-SDN, a framework that enables not only physical- but also logical distribution of the Software-Defined Networking (SDN) control plane. D-SDN accomplishes network control distribution by defining a hierarchy of controllers that can “match” an internets organizational- and administrative structure. By delegating control between main controllers and secondary controllers, D-SDN is able to accommodate administrative decentralization and autonomy.It incorporates security as an integral part of the framework. This paper describes D-SDN and presents two use cases, namely network capacity sharing and public safety network services.

Survey and comparison of message authentication solutions on wireless sensor networks

Security is an important concern in any modern network. This also applies to Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), especially those used in applications that monitor sensitive information (e.g., health care applications). However, the highly constrained nature of sensors imposes a difficult challenge: their reduced availability of memory, processing power and energy hinders the deployment of many modern cryptographic algorithms considered secure. For this reason, the choice of the most memory-, processing- and energy-efficient security solutions is of vital importance in WSNs. To date, a number of extensive analyses comparing different encryption algorithms and key management schemes have been developed, while very little attention has been given to message authentication solutions. In this paper, aiming to close this gap, we identify cipher-based Message Authentication Codes (MACs) and Authenticated Encryption with Associated Data (AEAD) schemes suitable for WSNs and then evaluate their features and performance on a real platform (TelosB). As a result of this analysis, we identify the recommended choices depending on the characteristics of the target network and available hardware.

Comparison of Authenticated-Encryption schemes in Wireless Sensor Networks

Security is an important concern in any modern network. This also applies to Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), especially those used in applications that monitor sensitive information (e.g., health care applications). However, the highly constrained nature of sensors impose a difficult challenge: their reduced availability of memory, processing power and energy hinders the deployment of many modern cryptographic algorithms considered secure. For this reason, the choice of the most memory-, processing- and energy-efficient security solutions is of vital importance in WSNs. To date, several authors have developed extensive analyses comparing different encryption algorithms and key management schemes, while very little attention has been given to message authentication mechanisms. In this paper, we address this issues by identifying Authenticated Encryption with Associated Data (AEAD) schemes suitable for WSNs and by evaluating their features and performance on TelosB sensor nodes. As a result of this analysis, we identify the recommended choices depending on the characteristics of the target network.

Software-defined-networking-enabled capacity sharing in user-centric networks

In this article, we discuss user-centric networks as a way of, if not completely solving, considerably mitigating the problem of sharing limited network capacity and resources efficiently and fairly. UCNs are self-organizing networks where the end user plays an active role in delivering networking functions such as providing Internet access to other users. We propose to leverage the recently proposed SDN paradigm to enable cooperation between wireless nodes and provide capacity sharing services in UCNs. Our SDNbased approach allows coverage of existing network infrastructure (e.g., WiFi or 3GPP) to be extended to other end users or ad hoc networks that would otherwise not be able to have access to network connectivity and services. Moreover, the proposed SDN-based architecture also takes into account current network load and conditions, and QoS requirements. Another important feature of our framework is that security is an integral part of the architecture and protocols. We discuss the requirements for enabling capacity sharing services in the context of UCNs (e.g., resource discovery, node admission control, cooperation incentives, QoS, security) and how SDN can aid in enabling such services. The article also describes the proposed SDN-enabled capacity sharing framework for UCNs.

SMSCrypto: A lightweight cryptographic framework for secure SMS transmission

Despite the continuous growth in the number of smartphones around the globe, Short Message Service (SMS) still remains as one of the most popular, cheap and accessible ways of exchanging text messages using mobile phones. Nevertheless, the lack of security in SMS prevents its wide usage in sensitive contexts such as banking and health-related applications. Aiming to tackle this issue, this paper presents SMSCrypto, a framework for securing SMS-based communications in mobile phones. SMSCrypto encloses a tailored selection of lightweight cryptographic algorithms and protocols, providing encryption, authentication and signature services. The proposed framework is implemented both in Java (target at JVM-enabled platforms) and in C (for constrained SIM Card processors) languages, thus being suitable for a wide range of scenarios. In addition, the signature model adopted does not require an on-line infrastructure and the inherent overhead found in the Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) model, facilitating the development of secure SMS-based applications. We evaluate the proposed framework on a real phone and on SIM Card-comparable microcontroller.

Software-defined networking based capacity sharing in hybrid networks

This paper proposes a novel approach to capacity sharing in hybrid networked environments, i.e., environments that consist of infrastructure-based as well as infrastructureless networks. The proposed framework is based on Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and provides flexible, efficient, and secure capacity sharing solutions in a variety of hybrid network scenarios. In this paper, we describe the challenges raised by capacity sharing in hybrid networks, describe our framework in detail and how it addresses these challenges, and discuss implementation issues. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first SDN-based capacity sharing solution that targets hybrid networks and that incorporates security as an integral part of the proposed approach.

Implementation of data survival in unattended Wireless Sensor Networks using cryptography

Security in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) is highly dependent on the behavior of the base station. This happens because, if the network is left unattended, sensor nodes cannot offload data to the (secure) base station in real time and, thus, until the base station becomes available, adversaries can compromise some sensor nodes and selectively destroy data. In order to prevent such attacks, providing the so-called “data survival”, some strategies can be employed. In this paper, we discuss and analyze different data survival strategies using cryptography. To the best of our knowledge, we provide the first implementation of such techniques, using a real sensor platform for their evaluation. As a result, we show that the main costs for the data survival process are not as high as it could be expected, and that strategies based on private keys can be used even if one considers the highly resource constrained nature of sensors.

Assisting Physical (Hydro)Therapy With Wireless Sensors Networks

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and Internet of Things (IoT) have been used to build several eHealth systems, which enable a physician (or caregiver) to monitor a patient (or elderly) continuously and real time, either locally or remotely, at lower cost and being less intrusive in the routine than the traditional monitoring equipment. Physical therapy aiding systems are a particular case of such systems, with specific characteristics and requirements, concerning equipment, software, and system. This work presents a system aimed at assessing joint angle and vital signs to assist physical therapists. The system is also available to hydrotherapy, which imposes packaging, sensing, and communication challenges. We discuss our design and implementation, as well as common problems with this kind of application. We also present statistical analysis of the system results based on experiments conducted and compared to a goniometer, a standard physical therapy device.

Distributed control plane architecture for software-defined Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are the basis for several applications including environmental and health monitoring, industrial and home automation, consumer electronics connectivity, and public safety, being a key technology for Internet of Things and Smart Cities development. Software-defined networking (SDN) paradigm could reduce complexity in WSN configuration, management and re-tasking. However the use of a centralized controller increases WSN traffic, decreasing its lifetime. The SDN controller could leverage from the WSN local knowledge to improve the decisions taken. We propose an architecture with distributed and hierarchical controllers, where local controllers use local information to reply to nodes in its area, and a global controller oversees the whole network. We present results from simulations based on emulated sensor nodes.