Security and Quality of Service and Aspects in ZigBee-based Wireless Communication

Project Description

Based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard, which defines the physical layer (PHY) and medium access control (MAC) sublayer specifications for Low Rate Wireless Personal Area Networks (LR-WPAN), the ZigBee Alliance complements the specifications at the network, security, and application layers and provides an open global standard for building ultra-low complexity, ultra-low cost, ultra-low power consumption, and low data rate WPANs. ZigBee has become one of the most recent and promising WPAN technologies and is getting more popular in wireless sensor network (WSN) applications.
This project is a cooperated with SIEMENS AG A&D. Our primary research goals focus on quality of service (QoS) and security aspects in ZigBee-based WSN. We stress simulation and modeling techniques for performance evaluation. A complete model for the IEEE 802.15.4/Zigbee protocol stack is to be implemented in OMNeT++. This simulation tool has been extensively employed in our group. In our simulations, we apply various traffic models to investigate both, traditional performance measures (delay, latency, throughput, etc.) and other measures specifically for WSN like energy efficiency and real-time behavior (stressed in industrial monitoring and controlling). Self-organization has been identified as a promising control paradigm for massively distributed systems. We will also examine its applicability in ZigBee-based networks. With respect to security we are interested in the cost of the various available security mechanisms proposed in ZigBee specification. Simulation results will reveal how these security mechanisms affect the network performance. In the long-run, we aim to develop simulation-based methodologies for designing sensor networks for industrial control applications.

Project Period

    2006-07-01 – 2010-09-30

Project Members

  • PD Dr.-Ing. habil. Falko Dressler
  • Feng Chen, M. Sc.

Sponsered by

  • Siemens AG A&D
  • DAAD STIBET
  1. Feng Chen, Reinhard German und Falko Dressler, “Towards IEEE 802.15.4e: A Study of Performance Aspects,” Proc. of 8th IEEE Intern. Conf. on Pervasive Computing and Communications, 2nd IEEE Intern. Workshop on Information Quality and Quality of Service for Pervasive Computing, Mannheim, Germany, pp. 68-73, März 2010  
  2. Feng Chen, Nan Wang, Reinhard German und Falko Dressler, “Simulation study of IEEE 802.15.4 LR-WPAN for industrial applications,” in Wiley Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing (WCMC) Bd. 10 (5), pp. 609-621, 2010  
  3. Feng Chen, Xiaolong Yin, Reinhard German und Falko Dressler, “Performance Impact of and Protocol Interdependencies of IEEE 802.15.4 Security Mechanisms,” Proc. of 6th IEEE Intern. Conf. on Mobile Ad Hoc and Sensor Systems, 5th IEEE Intern. Workshop on Wireless and Sensor Networks Security, Macau SAR, P.R.C., pp. 1036-1041, Oktober 2009
  4. Feng Chen, Thomas Talanis, Reinhard German und Falko Dressler, “Real-time Enabled IEEE 802.15.4 Sensor Networks in Industrial Automation,” Proc. of IEEE Symposium on Industrial Embedded Systems, Lausanne, Switzerland, Juli 2009
  5. Feng Chen, Reinhard German und Falko Dressler, “QoS-oriented Integrated Network Planning for Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks,” Proc. of 6th IEEE Communications Society Conf. on Sensor and Ad Hoc Communications and Networks, Rome, Italy, Juni 2009
  6. Feng Chen, “Improving IEEE 802.15.4 for Low-latency Energy-efficient Industrial Applications,” Proceedings of Echtzeit 2008, Boppard, Germany, pp. 61-70, November 2008
  7. Feng Chen, Nan Wang, Reinhard German und Falko Dressler, “Performance Evaluation of IEEE 802.15.4 LR-WPAN for Industrial Applications,” Proc. of 5th IEEE/IFIP Conference on Wireless On demand Network Systems and Services, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, pp. 89-96, Januar 2008
  8. Isabel Dietrich, Feng Chen, Reinhard German und Falko Dressler, “Modeling energy consumption of wireless communications in OMNeT++,” Proc. of GI/ITG KuVS Fachgespräch Systemsoftware und Energiebewusste Systeme, Karlsruhe, Germany, Oktober 2007
  9. Feng Chen und Falko Dressler, “A Simulation Model of IEEE 802.15.4 in OMNeT++,” Proc. of 6. GI/ITG KuVS Fachgespräch Drahtlose Sensornetze, Poster Session, Aachen, Germany, pp. 35-38, Juli 2007
  10. Feng Chen, Falko Dressler und Armin Heindl, “End-to-End Performance Characteristics in Energy-Aware Wireless Sensor Networks,” Proc.of 3rd ACM International Workshop on Performance Evaluation of Wireless Ad Hoc, Sensor, and Ubiquitous Networks, Torremolinos, Malaga, Spain, pp. 41-47, Oktober 2006