Clock Frequency Impact on the Performance of High-Security Cryptographic Cipher Suites for Energy-Efficient Resource-Constrained IoT Devices
Modern Internet of Things (IoT) systems have to be able to provide high-security levels, but it is difficult to accommodate computationally-intensive cryptographic algorithms on the resource-constrained hardware used to deploy IoT end nodes. Although this scenario brings the opportunity for using ad...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2018-12-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/1/15 |
| _version_ | 1811302369804156928 |
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| author | Manuel Suárez-Albela Paula Fraga-Lamas Luis Castedo Tiago M. Fernández-Caramés |
| author_facet | Manuel Suárez-Albela Paula Fraga-Lamas Luis Castedo Tiago M. Fernández-Caramés |
| author_sort | Manuel Suárez-Albela |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Modern Internet of Things (IoT) systems have to be able to provide high-security levels, but it is difficult to accommodate computationally-intensive cryptographic algorithms on the resource-constrained hardware used to deploy IoT end nodes. Although this scenario brings the opportunity for using advanced security mechanisms such as Transport Layer Security (TLS), several configuration factors impact both the performance and the energy consumption of IoT systems. In this study, two of the most used TLS authentication algorithms (ECDSA and RSA) were compared when executed on a resource-constrained IoT node based on the ESP32 System-on-Chip (SoC), which was tested at different clock frequencies (80, 160 and 240 MHz) when providing different security levels (from 80 to 192 bits). With every tested configuration, energy consumption and average time per transaction were measured. The results show that ECDSA outperforms RSA in all performed tests and that certain software implementations may lead to scenarios where higher security-level alternatives outperform cryptosystems that are theoretically simpler and lighter in terms of energy consumption and data throughput. Moreover, the performed experiments allow for concluding that higher clock frequencies provide better performance in terms of throughput and, in contrast to what may be expected, less energy consumption. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T07:26:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-59cd116a3f1741888e3981fd5dd60496 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T07:26:55Z |
| publishDate | 2018-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-59cd116a3f1741888e3981fd5dd604962022-12-22T02:56:27ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202018-12-011911510.3390/s19010015s19010015Clock Frequency Impact on the Performance of High-Security Cryptographic Cipher Suites for Energy-Efficient Resource-Constrained IoT DevicesManuel Suárez-Albela0Paula Fraga-Lamas1Luis Castedo2Tiago M. Fernández-Caramés3Department of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Computer Science, Universidade da Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, SpainDepartment of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Computer Science, Universidade da Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, SpainDepartment of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Computer Science, Universidade da Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, SpainDepartment of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Computer Science, Universidade da Coruña, 15071 A Coruña, SpainModern Internet of Things (IoT) systems have to be able to provide high-security levels, but it is difficult to accommodate computationally-intensive cryptographic algorithms on the resource-constrained hardware used to deploy IoT end nodes. Although this scenario brings the opportunity for using advanced security mechanisms such as Transport Layer Security (TLS), several configuration factors impact both the performance and the energy consumption of IoT systems. In this study, two of the most used TLS authentication algorithms (ECDSA and RSA) were compared when executed on a resource-constrained IoT node based on the ESP32 System-on-Chip (SoC), which was tested at different clock frequencies (80, 160 and 240 MHz) when providing different security levels (from 80 to 192 bits). With every tested configuration, energy consumption and average time per transaction were measured. The results show that ECDSA outperforms RSA in all performed tests and that certain software implementations may lead to scenarios where higher security-level alternatives outperform cryptosystems that are theoretically simpler and lighter in terms of energy consumption and data throughput. Moreover, the performed experiments allow for concluding that higher clock frequencies provide better performance in terms of throughput and, in contrast to what may be expected, less energy consumption.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/1/15ECCECDSARSAIoTTLSpower consumptionIoT securityenergy efficiency |
| spellingShingle | Manuel Suárez-Albela Paula Fraga-Lamas Luis Castedo Tiago M. Fernández-Caramés Clock Frequency Impact on the Performance of High-Security Cryptographic Cipher Suites for Energy-Efficient Resource-Constrained IoT Devices Sensors ECC ECDSA RSA IoT TLS power consumption IoT security energy efficiency |
| title | Clock Frequency Impact on the Performance of High-Security Cryptographic Cipher Suites for Energy-Efficient Resource-Constrained IoT Devices |
| title_full | Clock Frequency Impact on the Performance of High-Security Cryptographic Cipher Suites for Energy-Efficient Resource-Constrained IoT Devices |
| title_fullStr | Clock Frequency Impact on the Performance of High-Security Cryptographic Cipher Suites for Energy-Efficient Resource-Constrained IoT Devices |
| title_full_unstemmed | Clock Frequency Impact on the Performance of High-Security Cryptographic Cipher Suites for Energy-Efficient Resource-Constrained IoT Devices |
| title_short | Clock Frequency Impact on the Performance of High-Security Cryptographic Cipher Suites for Energy-Efficient Resource-Constrained IoT Devices |
| title_sort | clock frequency impact on the performance of high security cryptographic cipher suites for energy efficient resource constrained iot devices |
| topic | ECC ECDSA RSA IoT TLS power consumption IoT security energy efficiency |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/1/15 |
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