A Trust Model for Directory-Based Service Discovery in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Abstract

Trust computation and management are significant areas of research in mobile ad hoc networks, since the mobile nodes are vulnerable to security threats. A trust mechanism allows the participating nodes to maintain trust relationships among themselves, by evaluating one another and deciding which nodes can interact with one another and whether they can. In this paper, a trust model for the directory-based service discovery is proposed, using the Dezert-Smarandache Theory (DSmT). The trust value of a node is computed by another node, based on the behavior of nodes, when a service provider node provides the service to the requesting node, during the service discovery process. An evidential theory, DSmT handles uncertain and paradoxical information that may arise from the fusion of several sources of evidences. Simulations were carried out, to analyze trust values of the requester nodes and packet delivery ratio, to show the efficiency of the proposed model.