Open Access

ARTICLE

Lightweight Algorithm for MQTT Protocol to Enhance Power Consumption in Healthcare Environment

Anwar D. Alhejaili^*, Omar H. Alhazmi

Department of Computer Science, Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia

* Corresponding Author: Anwar D. Alhejaili. Email:

Journal on Internet of Things 2022, 4(1), 21-33. https://doi.org/10.32604/jiot.2022.019893

Received 15 November 2021; Accepted 15 February 2022; Issue published 16 May 2022

Abstract

Internet of things (IoT) is used in various fields such as smart cities, smart home, manufacturing industries, and healthcare. Its application in healthcare has many advantages and disadvantages. One of its most common protocols is Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT). MQTT protocol works as a publisher/subscriber which is suitable for IoT devices with limited power. One of the drawbacks of MQTT is that it is easy to manipulate. The default security provided by MQTT during user authentication, through username and password, does not provide any type of data encryption, to ensure confidentiality or integrity. This paper focuses on the security of IoT healthcare over the MQTT protocol, through the implementation of lightweight generating and key exchange algorithms. The research contribution of this paper is twofold. The first one is to implement a lightweight generating and key exchange algorithm for MQTT protocol, with the key length of 64 bits through OMNET++ simulation. The second one is to obtain lower power consumption from some existing algorithms. Moreover, the power consumption through using the proposed algorithm is 0.78%, 1.16%, and 1.93% of power for 256 bits, 512 bits, and 1024 respectively. On the other hand, the power consumption without using the encryption is 0.25%, 0.51%, and 1.03% for the same three payloads length.

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Keywords

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