Alliance-based clustering scheme for group key management in mobile ad hoc networks

Several protocols have been proposed to deal with the group key management problem in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). Most of these protocols organize the network into clusters to reduce the cost of key refresh or rekeying. Rekeying constitutes a challenging issue in group key management because it must be launched whenever the constitution of the group is altered following a leave or a join operation. However, cluster maintenance may also generate significative communication overhead. So, the clustering algorithm is an important factor in the performance of any key management solution. A clustering algorithm that ensures stable clusters in spite of mobility is very appreciable in mobile ad hoc networks. In fact, all the overhead due to the traffic generated by cluster adjustments and the related rekeying procedures will be saved. As far as we know, no existing clustering algorithm takes into account self-stabilization while relying on the mobility resilience of graph alliances. In this paper, we propose a fully distributed and self-stabilizing clustering algorithm for key management in MANETs where each cluster is an alliance.     

Dynamic genetic algorithms for the dynamic load balanced clustering problem in mobile ad hoc networks

Clustering can help aggregate the topology information and reduce the size of routing tables in a mobile ad hoc network (MANET). To achieve fairness and uniform energy consumption, each clusterhead should ideally support the same number of clustermembers. However, a MANET is a dynamic and complex system and its one important characteristic is the topology dynamics, that is, the network topology changes over time due to the factors such as energy conservation and node movement. Therefore, in a MANET, an effective clustering algorithm should efficiently adapt to each topology change and produce the new load balanced clusterhead set quickly. The maintenance of the cluster structure should aim to keep it as stable as possible to reduce overhead. To meet this requirement, the new solution should keep as many good parts in the previous solution as possible. In this paper, we first formulate the dynamic load balanced clustering problem (DLBCP) into a dynamic optimization problem. Then, we propose to use a series of dynamic genetic algorithms (GAs) to solve the DLBCP in MANETs. In these dynamic GAs, each individual represents a feasible clustering structure and its fitness is evaluated based on the load balance metric. Various dynamics handling techniques are introduced to help the population to deal with the topology changes and produce closely related solutions in good quality. The experimental results show that these GAs can work well for the DLBCP and outperform traditional GAs that do not consider dynamic network optimization requirements.     

An efficient clustering scheme for large and dense mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs)

Large and dense MANETs often face scalability problem and need to achieve performance guarantee with the help of a hierarchical structure, typically a cluster control structure. In this paper, an efficient clustering scheme (ECS) is proposed for large and dense MANETs. Mechanisms for cluster formation and cluster maintenance are described and studied in detail. ECS can eliminate the frozen period requirement for cluster formation, reduce cluster overlapping and prolongs the cluster lifetime without producing excessive clustering overheads. The performance of ECS is compared with random competition-based clustering (RCC) and a modified version of highest connectivity clustering (HCC) in terms of clustering overheads, clusterhead lifetime, cluster number and cluster size. Simulation results show that ECS successfully achieves its targets at reducing the cluster overlapping, maintaining a stable cluster structure as well as producing moderate clustering overheads.     

A distributed group mobility adaptive clustering algorithm for mobile ad hoc networks

This paper proposes a distributed group mobility adaptive (DGMA) clustering algorithm for mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) on the basis of a revised group mobility metric, linear distance based spatial dependency (LDSD), which is derived from the linear distance of a node’s movement instead of its instantaneous speed and direction. In particular, it is suitable for group mobility pattern where group partitions and mergence are prevalent behaviors of mobile groups. The proposed clustering scheme aims to form more stable clusters by prolonging cluster lifetime and reducing the clustering iterations even in highly dynamic environment. Simulation results show that the performance of the proposed framework is superior to two widely referenced clustering approaches, the Lowest-ID clustering scheme and the mobility based clustering algorithm MOBIC, in terms of average clusterhead lifetime, average resident time, average number of clusterhead changes, and average number of cluster reaffiliations.     

Improved group-based cooperative caching scheme for mobile ad hoc networks

Data caching is a popular technique that improves data accessibility in wired or wireless networks. However, in mobile ad hoc networks, improvement in access latency and cache hit ratio may diminish because of the mobility and limited cache space of mobile hosts (MHs). In this paper, an improved cooperative caching scheme called group-based cooperative caching (GCC) is proposed to generalize and enhance the performance of most group-based caching schemes. GCC allows MHs and their neighbors to form a group, and exchange a bitmap data directory periodically used for proposed algorithms, such as the process of data discovery, and cache placement and replacement. The goal is to reduce the access latency of data requests and efficiently use available caching space among MH groups. Two optimization techniques are also developed for GCC to reduce computation and communication overheads. The first technique compresses the directories using an aggregate bitmap. The second employs multi-point relays to develop a forwarding node selection scheme to reduce the number of broadcast messages inside the group. Our simulation results show that the optimized GCC yields better results than existing cooperative caching schemes in terms of cache hit ratio, access latency, and average hop count.     

Fast deterministic broadcast and gossiping algorithms for mobile ad hoc networks

We present a mobility resilient deterministic broadcast algorithm with worst-case time complexity of O(nlogn)$O(nlogn)$ for ad hoc networks where the nodes possess collision detection capabilities; n$n$ is the total number of nodes in the network. The algorithm is based on a breadth-first traversal of the network and allows multiple simultaneous transmissions by the nodes. The idea of this broadcast algorithm is then extended to develop a mobility resilient deterministic gossiping algorithm having O(Dnlogn)$O(Dnlogn)$ worst-case run time (D$D$ is the diameter of the network graph), which is an improvement over the existing algorithms. Simulation results show that on an average, the time for completing the broadcast or gossiping is significantly lower than the theoretical worst-case time requirement.     

A scalable key management and clustering scheme for wireless ad hoc and sensor networks

This paper describes a scalable key management and clustering scheme for secure group communications in ad hoc and sensor networks. The scalability problem is solved by partitioning the communicating devices into subgroups, with a leader in each subgroup, and further organizing the subgroups into hierarchies. Each level of the hierarchy is called a tier or layer. Key generation, distribution, and actual data transmissions follow the hierarchy. The distributed, efficient clustering approach (DECA) provides robust clustering to form subgroups, and analytical and simulation results demonstrate that DECA is energy-efficient and resilient against node mobility. Comparing with most other schemes, our approach is extremely scalable and efficient, provides more security guarantees, and is selective, adaptive and robust.     

A clique-based secure admission control scheme for mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs)

Wireless mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) do not have centralized infrastructure and it is difficult to provide authentication services. In this paper, we apply Certificate Graph (CG) and identity-based security in designing an admission control scheme for MANETs. We first use one-hop message exchange to build CG at each mobile node. Then we select maximum clique nodes in CG as distributed Certificate Authorities (CAs). We use identity-based key agreement from pairings to protect each session. Then we prove the security by Canetti–Krawczyk (CK) model-based analysis. We demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of our protocol through computer simulations.     

Triangle-based routing for mobile ad hoc networks

Routing protocols for Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) have been studied extensively in the past decade. Routing protocols for MANETs can be broadly classified as reactive (on-demand), proactive, hybrid and position-based. Reactive routing protocols are attractive because a route between a source and a destination is established only when it is needed. Such protocols, unlike proactive protocols, do not have high overhead for route maintenance and are especially suitable for networks in which not all nodes communicate frequently. One problem with existing reactive routing protocols is the propagation of redundant route request messages during route discovery. In this paper, we present a low-overhead reactive routing protocol which reduces propagation of redundant route request messages. We also compare its performance with the well-known reactive routing protocol AODV.     

A fuzzy-based Power-aware management for mobile ad hoc networks

In recent years, people have become more dependent on wireless network services to obtain the latest information at any time anywhere. Wireless networks must effectively allow several types of mobile devices send data to one another. The Mobile Ad Hoc Network (MANET) is one important type of non-infrastructure mobile network that consists of many mobile hosts, usually cellular phones. The power consumption rate and bandwidth of each mobile host device becomes an important issue and needs to be addressed. For increasing the reliability of the manager in Hierarchical Cellular Based Management (HCBM), this paper proposed a Power-aware protocol to select a stable manager from mobile hosts by fuzzy based inference systems based on the factors of speed, battery power, and location. Further, our protocol can trigger a mobile agent to distribute the managerial workload.     

Neighborhood tracking for mobile ad hoc networks

In mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs), node mobility causes network topologies to change dynamically over time, which complicates such important tasks as broadcasting and routing. In a typical efficient localized approach, each node makes forwarding decisions based on a neighborhood local view constructed simply by collecting received “Hello” messages. That kind of neighborhood local view can become outdated and inconsistent, which induces a low-coverage problem for efficient broadcasting tasks and a low-delivery ratio problem for efficient routing tasks. In this paper, we propose a neighborhood tracking scheme to guarantee the accuracy of forwarding decisions. Based on historical location information, nodes predict the positions of neighbors when making a forwarding decision, and then construct an updated and consistent neighborhood local view to help derive more precise forwarding decisions. The inaccuracy factors of our scheme are also discussed and an accessory method is provided for possible usage. Simulation results illustrate the accuracy of our proposed tracking scheme. To verify the effectiveness of our scheme, we apply it to existing efficient broadcast algorithms. Simulation results indicate that our neighborhood tracking scheme can improve the protocols coverage ratio greatly.     

A unified framework for cluster manager election and clustering mechanism in mobile ad hoc networks

In Mobile Ad-hoc NETwork (MANET), every node could become active dynamically. Therefore, those nodes will affect the stability of network topology because of clustering and de-clustering, and continuously make reconfiguration for the groups of network, all that will influence the overall function of network. How to choose a cluster manager to keep the stability of network topology is an important issue. In this paper, a mechanism for the designation of clustering and cluster manager is given by MANET. The mechanism is named as Unified Framework Clustering Mechanism (UFCM for short), which is a kind of processing mechanism under consideration in multi-network service, such as processing mode of initial state in the network system, processing mode of access of nodes in the group, and the processing mode concerned on failing to manage the group because the cluster manager is erroneous. Beyond that, we also propose a backup manager to take the work of the cluster manager when the cluster manager fails.     

Cost-effective mobile ad hoc networks management

As there are more and more mobile devices in use, different mobile networking models such as ad hoc or mesh are attracting a large research interest. Self-organizing mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) allow devices to share their services and resources without any central administration or Internet support. In this respect they can become the backbone of the wireless grid or the gateway to existing grids. To achieve these goals, MANET management must be as effective as that of wired networks. This is, however, a challenging task due to network features like mobility, heterogeneity, limited resources of hosts and feeble communication. This paper presents a set of simple, cost-effective and resilient procedures for the basic tasks of MANET creation and management.     

Model checking mobile ad hoc networks

Modeling arbitrary connectivity changes within mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) makes application of automated formal verification challenging. We use constrained labeled transition systems as a semantic model to represent mobility. To model check MANET protocols with respect to the underlying topology and connectivity changes, we introduce a branching-time temporal logic. The path quantifiers are parameterized by multi-hop constraints over topologies, to discriminate the paths over which the temporal behavior should be investigated; the paths that violate the multi-hop constraints are not considered. A model checking algorithm is presented to verify MANETs that allow arbitrary mobility, under the assumption of reliable communication. It is applied to analyze a leader election protocol.     

Robust self-keying mobile ad hoc networks

Pairwise key establishment in mobile ad hoc networks allows any pair of nodes to agree upon a shared key. This is an important security service needed to secure routing protocols, and in general to facilitate secure communication among the nodes of the network.We present two self-keying mechanisms for pairwise key establishment in mobile ad hoc networks which do not require any centralized support. The mechanisms are built using the well-known technique of threshold secret sharing, and are robust and secure against a collusion of up to a certain number of nodes. We evaluate and compare the performance of both the mechanisms in terms of the node admission and pairwise key establishment.     

A two-zone hybrid routing protocol for mobile ad hoc networks

Recently, an elegant routing protocol, the zone routing protocol (ZRP), was proposed to provide a hybrid routing framework that is locally proactive and globally reactive, with the goal of minimizing the sum of the proactive and reactive control overhead. The key idea of ZRP is that each node proactively advertises its link state over a fixed number of hops, called the zone radius. These local advertisements provide each node with an updated view of its routing zone - the collection of all nodes and links that are reachable within the zone radius. The nodes on the boundary of the routing zone are called peripheral nodes and play an important role in the reactive zone-based route discovery. The main contribution of this work is to propose a novel hybrid routing protocol - the two-zone routing protocol (TZRP) - as a nontrivial extension of ZRP. In contrast with the original ZRP where a single zone serves a dual purpose, TZRP aims to decouple the protocol's ability to adapt to traffic characteristics from its ability to adapt to mobility. In support of this goal, in TZRP each node maintains two zones: a crisp zone and a fuzzy zone. By adjusting the sizes of these two zones independently, a lower total routing control overhead can be achieved. Extensive simulation results show that TZRP is a general MANET routing framework that can balance the trade offs between various routing control overheads more effectively than ZRP in a wide range of network conditions.     

Adaptive routing protocol for mobile ad hoc networks

Artificial immune systems (AIS) are used for solving complex optimization problems and can be applied to the detection of misbehaviors, such as a fault tolerant. We present novel techniques for the routing optimization from the perspective of the artificial immunology theory. We discussed the bioinspired protocol AntOR and analyze its new enhancements. This ACO protocol based on swarm intelligence takes into account the behavior of the ants at the time of obtaining the food. In the simulation results we compare it with the reactive protocol AODV observing how our proposal improves it according to Jitter, the delivered data packet ratio, throughput and overhead in number of packets metrics.     

Markovian-based traffic modeling for mobile ad hoc networks

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) show very significant difference with respect to other computer networks due to the presence of extremely large packet loss bursts. The development of protocols for mobile ad hoc networks, especially multimedia protocols, require extensive evaluation either through simulation or real-life tests. Such testing consumes a great amount of resources both in terms of time and trace file sizes. Therefore, finding efficient means of reducing the amount of data that is stored and processed is quite important to accelerate the evaluation of different audio/video streaming applications. If, moreover, we are able to model the loss pattern experienced, we can further accelerate the evaluation process.In this work we propose two models based on hidden Markov chains that are able to grasp both packet arrivals and packet loss patterns in MANETs. A simpler two-state model is proposed to model losses when proactive routing protocols are used, while a more complex three-state model is proposed for reactive routing protocols. We also introduce a new set for packet loss pattern measurements that can be of interest for the evaluation of audio/video streaming applications.Experimental results show that the proposed models can adequately reproduce extremely long packet loss patterns, typical of MANET environments, with a high degree of accuracy. Overall, we find that the proposed models are able to significantly reduce both the simulation time and the trace file sizes required.     

高动态飞行器自组织网络组网研究

节点高速移动和网络拓扑变化迅速严重影响着高动态飞行器自组织网络性能。提出了一种适于高动态场景的移动自组织网络协议栈设计。该设计着重QoS需求,围绕网络拓扑高动态变化特征,合理配置不同层次的网络协议,适合高动态应用场景。以平面网络为例,分析评估了FANET网络在高动态环境下的性能。实验结果表明,该组网方式可行并能满足高动态飞行器自组织网络的功能和性能需求。还提出了节点在个体移动方式下保持网络高性能的最佳节点数目和网络各层次协议适应高动态拓扑变化的应对策略。     

Genetic algorithms with immigrants schemes for dynamic multicast problems in mobile ad hoc networks

In this paper, the problem of dynamic quality-of-service (QoS) multicast routing in mobile ad hoc networks is investigated. Lots of interesting works have been done on multicast since it is proved to be a NP-hard problem. However, most of them consider the static network scenarios only and the multicast tree cannot adapt to the topological changes. With the advancement in communication technologies, more and more wireless mobile networks appear, e.g., mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). In a MANET, the network topology keeps changing due to its inherent characteristics such as the node mobility and energy conservation. Therefore, an effective multicast algorithm should track the topological changes and adapt the best multicast tree to the changes accordingly. In this paper, we propose to use genetic algorithms with immigrants schemes to solve the dynamic QoS multicast problem in MANETs. MANETs are considered as target systems because they represent a new generation of wireless networks. In the construction of the dynamic network environments, two models are proposed and investigated. One is named as the general dynamics model in which the topologies are changed due to that the nodes are scheduled to sleep or wake up. The other is named as the worst dynamics model, in which the topologies are altered because some links on the current best multicast tree are removed. Extensive experiments are conducted based on both of the dynamic network models. The experimental results show that these immigrants based genetic algorithms can quickly adapt to the environmental changes (i.e., the network topology changes) and produce high quality solutions following each change.