Group key agreement for wireless mesh networks

Wireless mesh networks consist of stationary nodes that communicate over wireless connections. Since WLAN security standards are only applicable in the standard scenario where the access points are connected by a cable-bound backbone, nearly all mesh networks broadcast messages in the clear. To secure these networks, and to reduce the amount of reencryption of messages, we propose to use group key agreement (GKA) protocols to agree on a common key for all nodes. In a mesh network, a message sent by a certain node can only be received directly by nodes within the broadcast range of the first node. Thus we have neither direct point-to-point connections between nodes, nor do we have a perfect broadcast channel. We therefore compare the suitability of different GKA protocols proposed in the literature for mesh networks.