Efficient Trust Authority Distribution in Tactical MANET Environments

Determining the efficiency of protocols in MANET environments depends heavily on accurate characterization of the operating environment, particularly of message complexity. In this paper we therefore describe an extensible group mobility model intended to capture platoon-level light infantry operations, characterized by a hierarchical set of evolutions. Movement in this model is further constrained by a terrain model reported in previous work, allowing for a more precise modeling and simulation of algorithms on tactical networks. We subsequently describe a mechanism for disseminating key revocation information across a distributed trust authority (TA) in which nodes may be compromised or exhibit Byzantine failure. We propose and evaluate key revocation mechanisms to optimize the requirements of fast revocation propagation, complete coverage, and low message complexity in the previously described modeling and simulation environment.