Hiding Message in Map Along Pre-Hamiltonian Path

Abstract

In this paper, an algorithm to embed information in a map along Hamiltonian path is presented. A file based data structure in which a graph is treated as a composition of three components, node, segment and intermediate points that constitute a segment, is used to store a graph. In a map with N nodes, each node can represent ?log2N? bits from message bit strings. Any bits (= 0) from message between bit strings represented by adjacent nodes are embedded in a segment. In the case of a multi graph, a segment is selected based on the last two bits in the nodes. A pre Hamiltonian path is determined in the map starting from node represented by the first ?log2N? bits from message string to the last bit string ?log2N?. The method is tested on different maps and messages of different sizes and robust results have been observed. Retrieval is based on the key (S, |m|, ?) and traversing along the pre Hamiltonian path starting from node S.