Abstract
Smart meters that track fine-grained electricity usage and implement sophisticated usage-based billing policies, e.g., based on time-of-use, are a key component of recent smart grid initiatives that aim to increase the electric grid’s efficiency. A key impediment to widespread smart meter deployment is that fine-grained usage data indirectly reveals detailed information about consumer behavior, such as when occupants are home, when they have guests or their eating and sleeping patterns. Recent research proposes cryptographic solutions that enable sophisticated billing policies without leaking information. However, prior research does not measure the performance constraints of real-world smart meters, which use cheap ultra-low-power microcontrollers to lower deployment costs. In this paper, we explore the feasibility of designing privacy-preserving smart meters using low-cost microcontrollers and provide a general methodology for estimating design costs. We show that it is feasible to produce certified meter readings for use in billing protocols relying on Zero-Knowledge Proofs with microcontrollers such as those inside currently deployed smart meters. Our prototype meter is capable of producing these readings every 10 seconds using a $3.30USD MSP430 microcontroller, while less powerful microcontrollers deployed in today’s smart meters are capable of producing readings every 28 seconds. In addition to our results, our goal is to provide smart meter designers with a general methodology for selecting an appropriate balance between platform performance, power consumption, and monetary cost that accommodates privacy-preserving billing protocols.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
ARM: ARM Company Milestones (2011), http://www.arm.com/about/company-profile/milestones.php
Balasch, J., Rial, A., Troncoso, C., Geuens, C., Preneel, B., Verbauwhede, I.: PrETP: Privacy-Preserving Electronic Toll Pricing. In: USENIX Security (2010)
Barreto, P., Galbraith, S., Ó’hÉigeartaigh, C., Scott, M.: Efficient Pairing Computation on Supersingular Abelian Varieties. Designs, Codes and Cryptography (2007)
Barry, R.: FreeRTOS-a free RTOS for small embedded real time systems (2006)
Bichsel, P., Camenisch, J., Groß, T., Shoup, V.: Anonymous Credentials on a Standard Java Card. In: Proceedings of the 16th ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (2009)
Camenisch, J., Lysyanskaya, A.: A Signature Scheme with Efficient Protocols. In: Cimato, S., Galdi, C., Persiano, G. (eds.) SCN 2002. LNCS, vol. 2576, pp. 268–289. Springer, Heidelberg (2003)
Camenisch, J., Lysyanskaya, A.: Signature Schemes and Anonymous Credentials from Bilinear Maps. In: Franklin, M. (ed.) CRYPTO 2004. LNCS, vol. 3152, pp. 56–72. Springer, Heidelberg (2004)
Chen, J.: MSP430 Overview and Key Applications (2008)
Daley, W.: Digital Signature Standard (DSS). Tech. rep., DTIC (2000)
Devegili, A.J., Scott, M., Dahab, R.: Implementing Cryptographic Pairings over Barreto-Naehrig Curves. In: Takagi, T., Okamoto, T., Okamoto, E., Okamoto, T. (eds.) Pairing 2007. LNCS, vol. 4575, pp. 197–207. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)
Dreslinski, R., Wieckowski, M., Blaauw, D., Sylvester, D., Mudge, T.: Near-Threshold Computing: Reclaiming Moore’s Law Through Energy Efficient Integrated Circuits. Proceedings of the IEEE (2010)
Fiat, A., Shamir, A.: How to Prove Yourself: Practical Solutions to Identification and Signature Problems. In: Odlyzko, A.M. (ed.) CRYPTO 1986. LNCS, vol. 263, pp. 186–194. Springer, Heidelberg (1987)
Fujisaki, E., Okamoto, T.: Statistical Zero Knowledge Protocols to Prove Modular Polynomial Relations. In: Kaliski Jr., B.S. (ed.) CRYPTO 1997. LNCS, vol. 1294, pp. 16–30. Springer, Heidelberg (1997)
Gas, P., Company, E.: PG & E: Full Installation Schedule
IAR Systems: IAR Embedded Workbench (2011), http://www.iar.com/ewarm
Intel: Corporate Timeline (2011), http://www.intel.com/about/companyinfo/mu-seum/archives/timeline.html
Jawurek, M., Johns, M., Kerschbaum, F.: Plug-In Privacy for Smart Metering Billing. In: Fischer-Hübner, S., Hopper, N. (eds.) PETS 2011. LNCS, vol. 6794, pp. 192–210. Springer, Heidelberg (2011)
Kursawe, K., Danezis, G., Kohlweiss, M.: Privacy-Friendly Aggregation for the Smart-Grid. In: Fischer-Hübner, S., Hopper, N. (eds.) PETS 2011. LNCS, vol. 6794, pp. 175–191. Springer, Heidelberg (2011)
Labrosse, J.: MicroC/OS-III: The Real-Time Kernel. Micriμm Press (2010)
Lysyanskaya, A., Rivest, R.L., Sahai, A., Wolf, S.: Pseudonym Systems (Extended Abstract). In: Heys, H.M., Adams, C.M. (eds.) SAC 1999. LNCS, vol. 1758, pp. 184–199. Springer, Heidelberg (2000)
Molina-Markham, A., Shenoy, P., Fu, K., Cecchet, E., Irwin, D.: Private Memoirs of a Smart Meter. In: Proceedings of the 2nd ACM Workshop on Embedded Sensing Systems for Energy-Efficiency in Building (2010)
Pearson, J., Moise, T.: The Advantages of FRAM-Based Smart ICs for Next Generation Government Electronic IDs (2007)
Pedersen, T.P.: Non-interactive and Information-Theoretic Secure Verifiable Secret Sharing. In: Feigenbaum, J. (ed.) CRYPTO 1991. LNCS, vol. 576, pp. 129–140. Springer, Heidelberg (1992)
Plumb, C., Zimmermann, P.: bnlib: Extended Precision Integer Math Library
Rial, A., Danezis, G.: Privacy-Preserving Smart Metering. In: Workshop on Privacy in the Electronic Society (2011)
Rosenberg, B.: Handbook of Financial Cryptography and Security. Chapman & Hall/CRC (2010)
Scott, M.: MIRACL - Multiprecision Integer and Rational Arithmetic C Library
Devegili, A.J., Scott, M., Dahab, R.: Implementing Cryptographic Pairings over Barreto-Naehrig Curves. In: Takagi, T., Okamoto, T., Okamoto, E., Okamoto, T. (eds.) Pairing 2007. LNCS, vol. 4575, pp. 197–207. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)
Scott, M., Costigan, N., Abdulwahab, W.: Implementing Cryptographic Pairings on Smartcards. In: Goubin, L., Matsui, M. (eds.) CHES 2006. LNCS, vol. 4249, pp. 134–147. Springer, Heidelberg (2006)
Texas Instruments: SYS/BIOS Real-Time Operating System (2011)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Molina-Markham, A., Danezis, G., Fu, K., Shenoy, P., Irwin, D. (2012). Designing Privacy-Preserving Smart Meters with Low-Cost Microcontrollers. In: Keromytis, A.D. (eds) Financial Cryptography and Data Security. FC 2012. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 7397. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32946-3_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-32946-3_18
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-32945-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-32946-3
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)