New Algorithm for the Design of Topology Aware Hypercube in Multi-hop Ad hoc Networks

M. Striki, K. Manousakis and J. S. Baras

Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Networks ICN 2009, pp.236-244, Gosier, Guadeloupe/France, March 1-6, 2009.

Abstract

Securing group communications in resource constrained, infrastructure-less environments such as Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) has become one of the most challenging research directions in the areas of wireless network security. MANETs are emerging as the desired environment for an increasing number of commercial and military applications, addressing also an increasing number of users. Security on the other hand, is becoming an indispensable requirement of our modern life for all these applications. The inherent limitations of such dynamic and resource-constraint networks impose major difficulties in establishing a suitable secure group communications framework. This is even more so for the operation of Key Agreement (KA), under which all parties contribute equally to the group key. The logical design of efficient KA protocols has been the main focus of the related research to-date. Such a consideration however, gives only a partial account on the actual performance of a KA protocol in a multi-hop network. This is because protocols have been evaluated only in terms of the group key related messaging in isolation from the underlying network functions that interact with the logical scheme and support its correct execution (i.e. routing).  In recent work, we contributed towards efficiently extending a number of Diffie-Hellman (DH)-based group KA protocols in wireless multi hop ad hoc networks. Towards this end, we introduced a number of new algorithms to efficiently estimate the combined routing – communication costs. We then improved these protocols with the addition of a new communication schedule subject to the underlying routing. Indeed, the resulting protocols were significantly more efficient in some or all of the metrics of interest, as our analytical and simulation results indicated. In this work, we contribute towards the latter, by extending an existing KA scheme that was left out in our previous work: Hypercube. Through our analysis and simulations we demonstrate the superiority of the new, “enriched” Hypercube that takes into account the underlying routing via the application of a topologically aware communications schedule.