TOWARDS A SECURE AND ENERGY EFFICIENT WIRELESS SENSOR NETWORK USING BLOCKCHAIN AND A NOVEL CLUSTERING APPROACH

Abstract

This work proposes a Blockchain based protocol suite for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) to achieve service availability, immutability, and network transparency. It adopts a co-operative multiple Base Station system that minimizes the risk of network failure due to any attack on the Base Stations. Besides, a novel clustering approach is also proposed that partitions the monitoring area in a cognitive way for balancing the energy consumption. Its two-layered scrutinization process for the selection of cluster heads ensures minimum energy consumption from the network. Furthermore, it reduces the blind spot problem that escalates once the nodes start dying. The proposed protocol suite and the clustering approach are tested through simulation. The results show no significant falloffs in network lifetime or performance because of the adoption of Blockchain. Also, a significant improvement in balancing the energy consumption among clusters and a reduction in the blind spot problem is evident.