Distributed group and rights management for mobile ad hoc networks

Due to the ongoing increase of battery and computing power, mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) can already be deployed at contemporary mobile Internet devices like cellphones or tablet PCs. Unfortunately, a widespread utilization of these networks still cannot be observed, although the technical implementation of MANETs can be easily accomplished. We attribute this fact to the lack of applicable mechanisms for distributed and secure management of groups and their users' rights. We believe that adequate means for the secure selection of MANET participants can heavily accelerate distribution and utilization of MANETs. Although there already exist plenty of mobile ad hoc network applications, the lack in a fine-grained and secure selection of adequate communication partners prevents their rapid distribution and utilization. In this paper we present a management approach that facilitates the distributed and secure management of groups and their users' rights. Although our design relies on the idea of standard public key infrastructures X.509 certificates, and certificate revocation lists, our architecture facilitates ad hoc rights issuing and revocation, independent of a centralized certificate authority.