Key management using Chebyshev polynomials for mobile ad hoc networks

Abstract

A dedicated key server cannot be instituted to manage keys for MANETs since they are dynamic and unstable. The Lagrange's polynomial and curve fitting are being used to implement hierarchical key management for Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs). The polynomial interpolation by Lagrange and curve fitting requires high computational efforts for higher order polynomials and moreover they are susceptible to Runge's phenomenon. The Chebyshev polynomials are secure, accurate, and stable and there is no limit to the degree of the polynomials. The distributed key management is a big challenge in these time varying networks. In this work, the Chebyshev polynomials are used to perform key management and tested in various conditions. The secret key shares generation, symmetric key construction and key distribution by using Chebyshev polynomials are the main elements of this projected work. The significance property of Chebyshev polynomials is its recursive nature. The mobile nodes usually have less computational power and less memory, the key management by using Chebyshev polynomials reduces the burden of mobile nodes to implement the overall system.