Guaranteed delivery flooding protocols for mobile ad hoc networks

Flooding is an important tool in the routing operations of wireless ad hoc networks with applications to both topology/route discovery and data packet forwarding. We present two "guaranteed delivery" flooding protocols. The protocols "guarantee" successful delivery of packets from a source router to any nonfaulty router in a network that is connected by at least one nonfaulty path to the source router, even if the behavior of faulty routers and links is arbitrary and malicious. The first protocol is based on digital signatures. It improves earlier work by preventing the adversary from overwhelming a victim router with spurious digital signatures. The second protocol is based on the TESLA broadcast authentication protocol.