Elliptic Curve Cryptography-Based Secure Communication Protocols for Real-Time Emergency Services in Smart Cities.

Abstract

The rapid advancement of smart cities relies heavily on real time communication between critical systems, including emergency vehicles, traffic management, and connected healthcare devices.Ensuring the security and efficiency of these communications is paramount, particularly as these systems often operate in resource-constrained environments. This paper presents a novel secure communication protocol based on Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), designed specifically for real-time emergency services in smart cities. Leveraging ECC’s lightweight computational requirements and strong cryptographic security, the proposed protocol enables efficient key exchange,mutual authentication, and end-to-end encryption.We demonstrate the protocol’s applicability in scenarios such as secure vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)communication for ambulances, encrypted data transmission in traffic management systems, and real-time patient information sharing in connected healthcare services. A comprehensive performance evaluation highlights its low latency, minimal resource consumption, and scalability across diverse smart city applications. Furthermore, a security analysis confirms the protocol’s resistance to cyber threats, including man-in-the-middle attacks, and its potential for post-quantum adaptation.This research underscores the critical role of ECC in addressing the unique challenges of real-time secure communication in smart cities and sets the foundation for future advancements in quantum-resistant cryptographic solutions tailored for urban environments.