Trust-Aware Routing Protocol (TARP)

The Layered Sensing Leadership Group has defined the Layered Sensing Concept as key to future Air Force Science & Technology strategy, and effective data dissemination is integral to its success. A wireless sensor network (WSN) must not only maintain rapid throughput with minimal power consumption, but it must also maintain data integrity by incorporating trust into a continuously optimizing data routing protocol. We propose to assess the trustworthiness of nodes in a WSN with a rapid automated approach to learning baseline behavior and detecting anomalous behavior. To augment unsupervised learning techniques, we propose to include a rule-based module to encode expert knowledge. We will infer the trustworthiness of a node within an operational context. Because different nodes may arrive at different assessments of a target node’s trustworthiness, we propose a lightweight aggregation mechanism to merge multiple assessments. We will then integrate trust-based routing with other parameters in an optimization function that will be the basis of our routing protocol. The protocol will be adaptable to changing network conditions, customizable for dynamic operational requirements, and scalable to extremely large networks. BENEFIT: We expect the trust-aware routing protocol to have immediate and tangible benefit for a number of military sensor network systems including DCGS and FCS. We also see broader application of the trust-based routing to other domains such as social network analysis. Members of a social network could establish a network based on trust rather than simply based on the degree of separation in links.