Fast-Refreshing Tree-Based Group Key Agreement for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

With the proliferation of group-oriented applications in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), users need suitable group key agreements to secure communication between group members. Because of users´ mobility, group members join their group or leave frequently in MANETs. Due to each MANET has a unique, specific purpose, there typically is no central management mechanism. The utilization of resource, such as bandwidth, is limited. Furthermore, a user´s wireless device is usually equipped only with limited battery power. Consequently, power consumption also affects the life period of a MANET. Due to these challenges, MANETs require a group key agreement which can generate and refresh a group key quickly and efficiently. In this paper, we propose a Fast-reacting Tree-based Group key agreement for MANETs, FTG-M, which supports efficient message transmission and low communication overhead in order to refresh group keys quickly. In addition, we utilize a new idea, a virtual tree, to reduce communication overhead. We compare the performance of FTG-M with other schemes, so as to show the reduction of communication and computation overhead.