Black SDN for the Internet of Things

Abstract

In this paper, we present Black SDN, a Software Defined Networking (SDN) architecture for secure Internet of Things (IoT) networking and communications. SDN architectures were developed to provide improved routing and networking performance for broadband networks by separating the control plain from the data plain. This basic SDN concept is amenable to IoT networks, however, the common SDN implementations designed for wired networks are not directly amenable to the distributed, ad hoc, low-power, mesh networks commonly found in IoT systems. SDN promises to improve the overall lifespan and performance of IoT networks. However, the SDN architecture changes the IoT network's communication patterns, allowing new types of attacks, and necessitating a new approach to securing the IoT network. Black SDN is a novel SDN-based secure networking architecture that secures both the meta-data and the payload within each layer of an IoT communication packet while utilizing the SDN centralized controller as a trusted third party for secure routing and optimized system performance management. We demonstrate through simulation the feasibility of Black SDN in networks where nodes are asleep most of their lives, and specifically examine a Black SDN IoT network based upon the IEEE 802.15.4 LR WPAN (Low Rate - Wireless Personal Area Network) protocol.