Healthcare WSN: Cluster Elections and Selective Forwarding Defense

Wireless sensor networks are an array of different components. Upgrading a single component may not be enough. It is necessary to take each component and apply the best possible techniques to upgrade the system. This paper looks at the configurations necessary for a medical based WSN with particular focus on clustering and routing. It includes an implementation of a WSN architecture in Contiki operating system using Tmote Sky and openmote technologies. The underlying power consumption related to this architecture is analysed and real world measurements are presented. Finally, the case of a modified secure routing algorithm is introduced with simulation based results showing single and collaborative selective forwarding detection/correction, and network latency. Additionally, a solution to the problem of malicious nodes dropping control messages has been provided. The uniqueness of the paper resides in the implementation of monitoring mechanism without any watchdog nodes. Moreover, to the best of the authors´ knowledge, this mechanism has not been implemented on the Contiki OS.