Enhancing Intrusion Tolerance of Clustered Wireless Sensor Networks using a Double-Stage Scale-Free Topology Evolution Model

Constructing a scale-free topology is an effective method to improve the fault tolerance of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). However, when deploying WSNs in high-value applications, ensuring that the scale-free structure can effectively withstand malicious attacks becomes a major challenge. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a scale-free WSN that not only demonstrates excellent fault tolerance but also exhibits outstanding intrusion tolerance. Based on these considerations, this study proposes a reliable Scale-free Topology Evolution Model (STEM) for WSNs. This model consists of two phases: topology generation phase and topology optimization phase. In the topology generation phase, STEM generates a scale-free clustered WSN topology to ensure the network’s fault tolerance. In the topology optimization phase, wireless links are rearranged to enhance the network’s intrusion tolerance. It is worth noting that the topology structure constructed by STEM is organized through clustering to ensure its suitability for various task scenarios. Experimental results show that compared to existing scale-free WSN optimization algorithms, the network topology generated by STEM not only enhances the network’s reliability against random faults but also effectively improves the network’s reliability when facing malicious attacks.