CRYPTRON: CRYptographic Prefixes for Route Optimization in NEMO

The aviation community is in the process of designing the next generation Aeronautical Telecommunications Network (ATN), based on Internet standards, to provide air-ground communications for the aircraft. Support for mobile networks in the current Internet architecture is provided by the NEtwork Mobility (NEMO) protocol. As currently defined, NEMO Basic Support protocol lacks of Route Optimization support which is an essential requirement for its adoption as part of the next generation ATN. This paper presents a novel security tool, the Crypto Prefixes, and their application to the Route Optimization in Nemo (CRYPTRON). The Crypto Prefixes are IPv6 prefixes with embedded cryptographic information that enable the Mobile Network Prefix proof-of ownership without any centralized trust infrastructure. In CRYPTRON, the Crypto Prefixes are used to protect the establishment of the bindings on the Correspondent Nodes for the whole Mobile Network Prefix.