Secure interconnection protocol for integrated Internet and ad hoc networks

Integration of ad hoc networks with the Internet provides global Internet connectivity for ad hoc hosts through the coordination of mobile IP and ad hoc protocols. In a pure ad hoc network, it is difficult to establish trust relationship between two ad hoc hosts due to lack of infrastructure or centralized administration. In this paper, an infrastructure-supported and distributed authentication protocol is proposed to enhance trust relationships amongst ad hoc hosts. In addition, an effective secure routing protocol (SRP) is discussed to protect the multi-hop route for Internet and ad hoc communication. In the integrated ad hoc networks with Internet accessibility, the ad hoc routing security deployed with the help of infrastructure has a fundamental impact on ad hoc hosts in term of Internet access, integrity, and authentication. Both analysis and simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed security protocol. Copyright (C) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.