A Game-theoretic Approach to Security and Power Conservation in Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, we investigate the impacts of applying game theory on the network throughput, network voltage loss and accuracy of malicious node detection to wireless sensor networks. We implement a protocol which the sensors use when deciding whether or not to forward packets they receive from other sensors in order to conserve power. Nodes in a wireless sensor network accomplish this by optimizing their decision making based on a framework using game theory. Defining a suitable cost and profit to routing and forwarding incoming packets and keeping a history of experiences with non-cooperating nodes drives malicious nodes out of the wireless sensor network.