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Abstract Mobile Adhoc Networks are the new paradigm of wireless communication for the mobile hosts.

There is not any fixed infrastructure in the Adhoc network like in the conventional mobile wireless networks. In this paper we review the security requirements and challenges of the secure Adhoc routing protocol. Apart from this we study the classification of Adhoc network routing protocols. Here main stress is given on the routing protocol and vulnerabilities. Finally we survey the current security solutions and major protocols for Mobile Adhoc network. Introduction MANETs are highly dynamic network, which is totally different from conventional wired network, having centralized monitoring system. Routing protocols are those that find a way for data forwarding between source and destination. Since there too many routing protocols for data forwarding problem in MANETs, only some of them will be presented in detail in this paper. MANETs used in application like in Military for battlefield communication and commercial applications; disaster and recovery search.

A A
B B E

C C
D D

E F F

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(b)

Figure 1: Topology change in ad hoc networks : nodes A, B, C, D, E and F constitute an ad hoc network. The circle represents the radio range of node C. The network initially has

the topology in (a). When node E moves out of the radio range of C, the network topology changes to the one in (b).

MANETs have no fixed infrastructure. Node mobility causes arbitrary changes in the network topology which results in breakage of wireless links and re-establishment [2,9,10] An example as shown in figure 1 , where initially node E and F have a direct link between them. When E moves out of Fs radio range, the link is broken. Still the network is connected because F can reach E through D and C SECURITY REQUIREMENTS: Security is important for communication in Adhoc wireless network; especially for sensitive applications like military applications, environmental applications and other commercial applications. We consider the following 5 essential attributes. 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Availability ensure that services and information can be accessed at the time that they are required. In MANETs there are many risks that could result in loss of availability such as Denial of service attacks. Confidentiality requirement is needed to ensure that sensitive information is well protected and not revealed to unauthorized third parties. Leakage during transmission of sensitive information could have devastating consequence. Authorization enables a node to ensure or verify the identity of the peer nodes in a communication, distinguishing in the way legitimate users from intruders. Moving on to integrity objective, ensure that the information could be altered when exchanged over insecure networks. Finally, Non-repudiation enables a node who is origin of a message to ensure that it cannot deny having sent the message.

Various other security requirements like authorization are also of essential concern. DESIGN CHALLENGES IN SECURE ADHOC ROUTING PROTOCOLS Achieving security in Adhoc routing protocols is a challenging task. Designing of a Adhoc wireless network consists of few challenges [1, 4, 10]. The major challenges are mobility, bandwidth constraints, error prone channel state., hidden and exposed terminal problem, resource constraint [1, 2, 10]. 1) Mobility: Adhoc networks are highly dynamic networks. This is due to the movement of nodes in addition and deletion of nodes in the network. Here in

2)

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4) 5) 6)

this network the disruption is due to the movement of intermediate nodes and the end nodes. Bandwidth constraint: unlimited bandwidth is available in wired networks. Whereas the radio band is limited in wireless network and it offers a less data rate as compared to the wired network. Limited bandwidth in wireless network imposes constraint in maintaining any topological information on routing protocols. This results in the wastage of bandwidth for maintaining consistent topological information. Error prone channel state: The wireless links consists of time varying characteristics in terms of link capacity and link error probability. So, alternate routes with better quality links can be found which requires the Adhoc wireless network routing protocol to interact with the MAC layer. As well as transmission in Ad hoc wireless network results n collision of data and control packets. Hidden terminal problem: this problem occurs due to the collision of packets at the receiving node which takes place due to the simultaneous transmission of those nodes which are not in the direct transmission range of the sender. Exposed terminal problem: This problem occurs due to the inability of a node to transmit the data to another node when the wireless channel is not free because of the transmission by the nearby transmitting node. Resource constraint: the most essential and limited resources that results in major constraint for the node in an Adhoc network are battery life and processing power. Due to the portability of devices in Adhoc network, more battery power and processing ability is needed, which makes the nodes bulky and less portable. Optimal management of these resources is necessary.

CLASSIFICATION OF AD HOC NETWORK ROUTING PROTOCOLS Adhoc network routing protocols can be classified into three types based on the routing information update mechanism. These protocols are as follow: 1. 2. 3. 1. Reactive (on demand) routing protocols Proactive (table driven) routing protocol Hybrid Routing protocol Reactive (on demand) routing protocols: Routing protocols belonging to this category maintain path only when it is required. These protocols do not exchange routing information periodically. They do this by using connection establishment process. Proactive (table driven) routing protocol: protocols that fall under this category maintain routing information periodically. This routing table is maintained by every node in the network topology. This information is flooded in the whole of the network. Every time when a node requires a path to a destination, it runs an appropriate path finding algorithm on the maintained topological information.

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Hybrid Routing Protocols: In hybrid routing protocols the best features of both the reactive routing protocols and Proactive both the reactive routing protocols are combined. Whenever the nodes are within a certain distance from the node concerned or we can say within a particular geographic region, proactive routing protocols are used, for nodes that are outside the geographical area, reactive protocols are used [2].

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