Wireless Solutions and Authentication Mechanisms for Contiki Based Internet of Things Networks

Abstract: Internet of Things, is a new expression described as the future of the internet, promises a new world surrounded by tiny smart objects interacting with the environment, communicating with each other, and controlled over internet. Investigating which low power wireless solution and authentication mechanism fits best for IoT networks, and applying these technologies on simulator and real hardware is the main task of this project. Bluetooth Low Energy, ANT, 6LoWPAN and ZigBee are investigated low power wireless technologies which might be used to create an IoT network. Yet, BLTE and ANT have narrower application areas compared to the others, therefore ZigBee and 6LoWPAN technologies are investigated in depth and compared as the 2 promising solutions for implementation and integration of Internet of things concept. SPINS, TinySec, TinyECC, SenSec, MiniSec, ContikiSec and AES CCM are the main security frameworks especially designed for wireless sensor networks providing confidentiality, authentication and integrity. These frameworks were described and compared to find out most suitable authentication mechanism for IoT networks. Contiki OS is used as the operating system of nodes during the implementation of network both on simulator Cooja and real hardware. ZigBee and 6LoWPAN were compared considering interoperability, packet overhead, security and availability. As a result 6LoWPAN came forward due to providing high interoperability and slightly less packet overhead features. ZigBee devices require extra hardware to operate with different technologies. Among the discussed security frameworks, ContikiSec and AES CCM were highlighted because of flexibility, providing different levels of security. Resource limited characteristic and diversity of IoT applications make flexibility a very useful feature while implementing a security framework. Experiments committed to implement a working IoT network were not hundred percent successful. 6LoWPAN was successfully implemented but implementation of the security framework was failed due to compatibility issues between the sensor and the router node. Firmware of the sensor node is not designed to provide any kind of security, therefore security features of the router node is also disabled.