Secure overlay network for machine-to-machine communications: Master's thesis

The field of machine-to-machine communications is filled with various proprietary protocols and devices. Unfortunately, most devices may only be used in large systems within the environment provided by the system vendor. The goal of this thesis was to design a machine-to-machine network that enables interoperability between smart devices. Various operating environments were studied to identify the requirements for machine-to-machine network, where devices from various vendors may interact and benefit from resources provided by other devices. A new ad hoc type overlay network protocol that enables cross network and cross platform communication for embedded devices was designed. The designed protocol features peer-to-peer communication over encrypted end-to-end links and dynamic routing that allow mobility inside the network. Security threats in overlay networks were studied and various encryption methods were evaluated to find a suitable solution for heterogeneous embedded device network. To demonstrate the operation and usability of the protocol, a prototype implementation of an overlay router was designed and implemented. The performance of the prototype implementation was measured and the security of the proposed architecture was evaluated against the threats in overlay networks. Based on the evaluation, the proposed architecture can be considered a feasible and suitable solution for machine-to-machine communications.