An extended AODV routing protocol for secure MANETs based on node trust values

Abstract

In MANETs, various QoS problems exist such as high error rates, handling node mobility, inefficient routing, power conservation, and limited processing capabilities of network devices. To obtain secure ad hoc routing, misbehaving or malicious nodes should be detected and isolated. Otherwise, the overall network performance will be decreased. The participating nodes should establish a network with an acceptable level of trust relationships among themselves. This problem is solved with the adoption of a trust management framework and by extending the conventional routing protocol. This paper proposes a new routing protocol (TRUST_AODV) that extends the AODV routing protocol by incorporating a trust algorithm that detects misbehaving nodes. For each node, the proposed algorithm computes the weighted trust by taking into account the packet delivery ratio, energy consumption rate and buffer length. TRUST_AODV secures the MANET against potential packet drop attacks and denial-of-service attacks. It also improves the network performance under heavy network load conditions. The simulation results demonstrate that it supports secure routing and optimised performance.