Mobile Ad Hoc Key Management Mechanism

Mobile Ad hoc networks (MANETs) are new type of networks in which a collection of mobile terminals with wireless transmitters cooperate with each other. It is an important part in the research area of wireless communication. However, for the inherent features of this type of networks, it suffers more security threat than the conventional networks, and the security of MANETs is receiving increasing attention. As the fundamental problem of network security in MANETs, key management has been the main issue.The aim of this dissertation is to develop an appropriate key management scheme for the MANET. Firstly, the paper analyzed the adversary types, security threats and relating security requirements based on the features of MANETs. A survey on the proposed key management protocols was gaved and their advantages and drawbacks were analyzed in the follow. Then combined with partly-distributed system the paper proposed a new key management scheme based on ID-certified for MANETs by using some new theory and technology on cryptography in recent years as basic tools, such as identity-based cryptography, verifiable secret sharing, and proactive secret sharing. The new scheme prevents the potential cheating behaviors of the key distributed center and secure channel is not required for key distribution. Finally, the paper proposed a secure hierarchical key management scheme for large MANETs, analyzed the properties, security and cost of communication and computation of the scheme in detail, and simulated some related technical performance by using NS-2.Compared with the existing schemes, the proposed schemes in this paper can more effectively adapt the features of dynamic, and limitedness of the networks resources in MANETs. They can satisfy the security requirements on key in MANETs, as well as economize the networks resources and the cost of computation and communication, hence enhance networks' performance.