Recent literature contains proposals for key predistribution schemes for sensor networks in which nodes are deployed in separate groups. In this paper we consider the implications of group deployment for the connectivity and resilience of a key predistribution scheme. After showing that there is a lack of flexibility in the parameters of a scheme due to Liu, Ning and Du, limiting its applicability in networks with small numbers of groups, we propose a more general scheme, based on the structure of a resolvable transversal design. We demonstrate that this scheme permits effective trade-offs between resilience, connectivity and storage requirements within a group-deployed environment as compared with other schemes in the literature, and show that group deployment can be used to increase network connectivity, without increasing storage requirements or sacrificing resilience.
Keith M. Martin, Maura B. Paterson, Douglas R. Sti