Setting Initial Secret Keys in a Mobile Ad Hoc Network

Mobile ad hoc networks require specialized authentication protocols due to the mobility of users and lack of always-available trusted servers. There are a variety of mobile ad hoc authentication protocols for creating session and group keys, once a subset of individual nodes are signed in, i.e., established their shared secret keys. In this paper, we address the issue of setting initial secret keys for the nodes in a mobile ad hoc network architecture. While there are some new approaches such as the resurrecting duckling protocol, we address more practical issues. We have developed new protocols for setting the initial keys and extending the circle of authenticated nodes as new nodes arrive to join the network. We created an experimental system for the Linux platform in the Java programming language using the Bluetooth as the networking architecture. Our protocols can be used to create a mobile ad hoc network of authenticated nodes of cell phones, palm and pocket PC computers, and laptop computers. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation details of the protocols and summarize the results of our benchmarking tests.