Energy Harvesting for Wireless Sensor Networks

This assignment delves into the challenges of energy consumption in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). It emphasizes the importance of energy harvesting as a solution to prolong the lifespan and functionality of WSNs. Various energy harvesting techniques are discussed, including radio frequency, solar, thermal, wind, hydro, and flow-based methods. The assignment highlights the potential of these techniques to reduce reliance on traditional energy sources and enable continuous operation of WSNs.

Running head: WIRELESS NETWORKING CONCEPTS
Wireless Networking Concepts
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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WIRELESS NETWORKING CONCEPTS
Table of Contents
Answer 1..............................................................................................................................2
Answer 2..............................................................................................................................4
Bluetooth..........................................................................................................................4
ZigBee..............................................................................................................................4
Answer 3..............................................................................................................................5
References............................................................................................................................7

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WIRELESS NETWORKING CONCEPTS
Answer 1
The process of conversion of a plain text data to an unreadable version of data by the use
of standard algorithm is known as encryption. Encryption is generally used for protecting the
sensitive information from the access of unauthorized persons (Biham & Shamir, 2012).. The
process of encryption is common in WiMax in order to encrypt and protect all the traffic it
experiences in its network. Out of many different encryption standards, the most commonly used
encryption standards in WiMax networks includes triple DES, AES or advanced encryption
standard and CCMP or Counter Mode Cipher Block Chaining Message Authentication Protocol.
These three encryption standards are elaborated further in the following table-
Triple DES AES CCMP
 Triple DES or 3DES is
a symmetric key
algorithm protocol that
uses three keys of 56-
bit length for ensuring
a high level of
encryption.
 3DES uses a
symmetric block
cipher and implements
the basic DES
algorithm three times
to ensure extra
 Advanced encryption
standard or AES is a
better and more secure
encryption standard for
WiMax network
 It uses different
encryption keys of 128
bit, 192 bit or 256 bit
as standard encryption
keys.
 AES is a symmetric
block cipher algorithm
(Karthik &
 CCMP or counter
mode cipher block
chaining message
authentication is an
encryption standard
generally developed
for wireless LAN.
 It uses 128-bit key for
protecting the access
of data (Saberi et al.,
2012).
 It is a block cipher
mode encryption

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WIRELESS NETWORKING CONCEPTS
protection. However,
the running of the
algorithm three times
results in the process
becoming slower and
therefore the
performance of DES is
much slower in
comparison to other
encryption standards
and algorithm.
 3DES has a fixed key
size and therefore it
becomes easier to
implement this
encryption standard.
 The 3DES technology
uses or based on
ANSIX9.52 standard
 3DES is one of the
most widely used
encryption standard for
WiMax network.
Muruganandam, 2014)
 After 3DES, AES is
the most commonly
used encryption
standard for WiMax
protocol (Daemen &
Rijmen, 2013.).
 It however requires a
dedicated processor for
implementation of
AES in WiMax
network.
standard.
 CCMP is based on
AES or advanced
encryption standard.
 Offers enhanced
security as it employs
128bit keys and a 48-
bit initialization vector.

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WIRELESS NETWORKING CONCEPTS
 3DES led to the
evolution of a more
advance encryption
standard, which is
known as triple AES or
advanced encryption
standard (Singh,
2013).
Answer 2
Wireless personal area network is a network of interconnecting devices, which enables
connection of wireless connection to the different devices. WPAN technology is generally used
for setting up short range communication and helps in setting up a low power consumption in a
very low cost. It is beneficial and is used for setting up small personal networks. The example of
two such WPAN technologies is Bluetooth and ZigBee. Bluetooth is a standard for short-range
wireless interconnection of mobile phones and other electronic devices. ZigBee is however more
simple than Bluetooth and is less expensive. The cost of installation and the cost of data transfer
are very low. There are however, certain security concerns that are associated with the WPAN
technologies that are discussed in the following paragraphs-
Bluetooth
The different threats that are associated with the Bluetooth technology includes blue
bugging, bluejacking and bluesnarfing. In these attacks, the hacker or the attacker gets an

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WIRELESS NETWORKING CONCEPTS
unauthorized access to the network. This may lead to the information leakage and installation of
malicious contents into the network (Minar & Tarique, 2012).
ZigBee
ZigBee is a very simple network infrastructure and therefore, an attacker can easily gain
physical access to the data and encryption key of the devices, leading to the disclosure of the
confidential information and data. Furthermore, the node of a ZigBee can be readily imitated that
may lead to the hacker gaining access to the physical network (Zillner & Strobl, 2015).
Answer 3
The process of gathering energy from external, natural or manmade resources is known
as energy harvesting. The different external sources of energy includes harvesting of solar, wind,
radio frequency energy and so on. Wireless sensor networks face a lot of energy problems as it
requires a continuous supply of energy to perform the functions properly (Shaikh & Zeadally,
2016). The wireless sensor networks has increasing popularity due to its pervasive nature and its
use in internet of things. The different energy harvesting techniques can help in acquiring
continuous energy supply to the nodes of wireless sensor networks, which will help in
ascertaining a promising future in the field of wireless sensor networks. The problems associated
with Wireless sensor networks are mainly due to the use the continuous loss of current from the
battery power due to current leakages and battery breakdown. Therefore, the battery as an energy
source is to be replaced in order to ascertain the normal working of the sensor nodes. Energy
harvesting helps the wireless sensor nodes in acquiring continuous supply of energy, which in
turn helps in reducing the use of conventional energy (Ulukus et al., 2015).

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WIRELESS NETWORKING CONCEPTS
The different energy harvesting techniques that can be implemented for eliminating the
related energy problems associated with the harvesting of energy is elaborated below (Shaikh &
Zeadally, 2016)-
1) Energy harvesting using radio frequency is one of the modern energy harvesting
techniques that can be used for conversion of radio waves to DC power energy. This helps in
eliminating the energy issues associated with the wireless sensor technologies.
2) Solar energy harvesting is another efficient energy harvesting techniques, where the
solar energy is used to yield electrical energy, which may help in impending the energy problems
associated with the wireless sensor networks.
3) Thermal energy is another important energy harvesting techniques that converts the
heat energy to electrical energy.
4) The energy of the wind can be harvested for generation of electricity that can be used
for eliminating the energy problems associated with the wireless sensor networks.
5) In hydro energy harvesting techniques, the energy of flowing water is harvested to
convert that energy into electrical energy.
6) In flow based energy harvesting techniques, the energy of turbines and rotors are used
for converting its rotational energy to electrical energy.

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WIRELESS NETWORKING CONCEPTS

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References
Biham, E., & Shamir, A. (2012). Differential cryptanalysis of the data encryption standard.
Springer Science & Business Media.
Daemen, J., & Rijmen, V. (2013). The design of Rijndael: AES-the advanced encryption
standard. Springer Science & Business Media.
Karthik, S., & Muruganandam, A. (2014). Data Encryption and Decryption by using Triple DES
and performance analysis of crypto system. International Journal of Scientific
Engineering and Research, 24-31.
Minar, N. B. N. I., & Tarique, M. (2012). Bluetooth security threats and solutions: a
survey. International Journal of Distributed and Parallel Systems, 3(1), 127.
Saberi, I., Shojaie, B., Salleh, M., Niknafskermani, M., & Alavi, S. M. (2012, May). Improving
confidentiality of AES-CCMP in IEEE 802.11 i. In Computer Science and Software
Engineering (JCSSE), 2012 International Joint Conference on (pp. 82-86). IEEE.
Shaikh, F. K., & Zeadally, S. (2016). Energy harvesting in wireless sensor networks: A
comprehensive review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 55, 1041-1054.
Singh, G. (2013). A study of encryption algorithms (RSA, DES, 3DES and AES) for information
security. International Journal of Computer Applications, 67(19).
Ulukus, S., Yener, A., Erkip, E., Simeone, O., Zorzi, M., Grover, P., & Huang, K. (2015).
Energy harvesting wireless communications: A review of recent advances. IEEE Journal
on Selected Areas in Communications, 33(3), 360-381.