A Hybrid Group Key Management Scheme for UAV – MBN Network Environment Increasing Efficiency of Key Distribution in Joining Operation

The advent of wireless Ad-Hoc networks has seen an associated
emergence of group applications. In order to secure group applications and
prevent unauthorized users from accessing communication data that cannot be
protected by wireless Ad-Hoc networks and IP multicast alone, group communication
content needs to be encrypted by a shared group key. Key management
is necessary to ensure the safety of this group key and to protect the
group communication. However, problems arise when group key management
schemes are applied to the wireless environment relates to three issues: performance,
security and network compatibility. In this paper, the focus is made
on UAV-MBN, a military network with a proposal to group key management
architecture for the UAV-MBN. In order to tackle two particular wireless group
key management problems, operational efficiency and multiple-membership
changes, a hybrid group key management approach - which operates within each
theatre of UAV-MBN is included. By performing micro-key management, this
approach can reduce the operational costs associated with key management and
improve the operational efficiency of wireless group key management.
A membership-oriented group key management scheme is concentrated to tackle
the performance problem of multiple-membership changes. This approach,
compared to traditional application-oriented group key management approaches,
offers more effective management of multiple-membership changes.