Security Aware Routing Protocols for Mobile Ad hoc Networks

Abstract

An ad hoc network is the cooperative engagement of a collection of mobile nodes without the required intervention of any centralized access point or existing infrastructure. There is an increasing trend to adopt ad hoc networking for commercial user; however, their main applications lie in military, tactical, and other security-sensitive operations. In these and other applications of ad hoc networking, secure routing is an important issue. Designing a foolproof security protocol for ad hoc network is a challenging task due to its unique characteristics, such as lack of central authority, frequent topology changes, rapid node mobility, shared radio channel, and limited availability of resources. A number of protocols have been proposed for secure routing. However, most of these protocols are either proactive or reactive in approach. Both the approaches have their own limitations; for example, the proactive protocols use excess bandwidth in maintaining the routing information, while the reactive ones have long route request delay.