Performance of Host Identity Protocol on Symbian OS

The host identity protocol (HIP) has been specified by the IETF as a new solution for secure host mobility and multihoming in the Internet. HIP uses self-certifying public- private key pairs in combination with IPsec to authenticate hosts and protect user data. While there are three open-source HIP implementations, little experience is available with running HIP on lightweight hardware such as a mobile phone. Limited computational power and battery lifetime of lightweight devices raise concerns if HIP can be used there at all. This paper describes the porting process of HIP on Linux (HIPL) and OpenHIP implementations to Symbian OS, as well as performance measurements of HIP over WLAN using Nokia E51 and N80 smartphones. We found that with 1024-bit keys, the HIP base exchange with a server varies from 1.68 to 3.31 seconds depending on whether the mobile phone is in standby or active state respectively. After analyzing HIP performance in different scenarios we make conclusions and recommendations on using IP security on lightweight hardware clients.