Secure cluster based routing protocol incorporating the distributed PKI mechanisms

In this paper, we state a method of incorporating the distributed PKI (public key infrastructure) mechanisms to the MANET (mobile ad hoc networks) routing protocol. For doing this, we assume that MANET regards the CBRP (cluster based routing protocol) as base routing protocol. By using the basic operations of CBRP and the distributed PKI mechanisms, our scheme efficiently finds a certificate chain and performs the secure routing. This means that by incorporating the distributed PKI mechanisms to the CBRP, our scheme can provide the procedure of certificate chain discovery for packet routing. Also, by signing the HELLO message, our scheme can provide the reliable exchange of authentic routing/topology information.