A Public Key Polynomial-based Key Pre-distribution Scheme for Large-Scale Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks are often deployed in no man's land or hostile environments, therefore, exchange messages between sensors must be encrypted by symmetric key to protect sensitive data. Due to low cost, symmetric key-based key pre-distribution schemes are considered very suitable for wireless sensor networks, but they cannot thoroughly solve authentication and resilience problems against physical capture. In this paper, based on the asymmetric cryptographic algorithms and the characteristics of wireless sensor networks, we propose a public key polynomial-based key pre-distribution scheme for large-scale wireless sensor networks. Our scheme can ensure that any of the two neighbor sensors can establish a unique secure communication link. Compared with other existing schemes, our scheme can provide sufficient security regardless of the number of compromised sensors. Owing to our scheme's lowest storage overhead and perfectly connectivity, it is preferable to large-scale wireless sensor networks.