Applying host identity protocol to tactical networks

We describe the current status of the host identity protocol and discuss how it could be applied to tactical networks, including mobile ad hoc networks. The host identity protocol (HIP) is a protocol proposal at the IETF for separating the end-point identifier and locator nature of IP addresses. It introduces a new name space, consisting of public cryptographic keys, and uses these keys to identify hosts. All applications deal with the public keys instead of IP addresses; with a backward compatibility layer, most current applications continue to work unchanged. A new layer in the kernel dynamically maps the public keys in outgoing packets into IP addresses, and vice versa for incoming packets.