Abstract:

Addressing key management in mobile multicast communication is currently a booming topic due to the convergence of wireless and mobile technologies. With the proliferation of multiple group based services that are possible to co-exist within a single network, mobile subscribers could subscribe to these services concurrently while ubiquitous. However, the existing group key management (GKM) protocols intend to secure group communication for just a single group service. The GKM approaches involve inefficient use of keys and huge rekeying overheads, hence unsuitable for multiple multicast group environments. In this paper, we propose a novel GKM protocol for multiple multicast groups, called slot based multiple group key management (SMGKM) scheme. SMGKM supports the movement of single and multiple members across a homogeneous or heterogeneous wireless network while participating in multiple group services with minimized rekeying transmission overheads. Unlike conventional GKM protocols, SMGKM protocol can mitigate one-affect-n phenomenon, single point of failure and investment pressure of signalling load caused by rekeying at the core network. Numerical analysis and simulation results of the proposed protocol show significant resource economy in terms of communication bandwidth overhead, storage overheads at the Domain Key Distributor (DKD), mobile receiver and Area Key Distributors while providing intense security.

Index Terms: - Group key management, mobile multicast, security, wireless networks