Novel rekeying approach for secure multiple multicast groups over wireless mobile networks

Mobile multicast is recently becoming a hot research in the convergence of wireless and mobile technologies. With the emergence of various multicast-based services, multiple multicast groups are possible to exist within a single network, and mobile subscribers could subscribe to multiple groups concurrently. However, the existing group key management (GKM) protocols intend to secure group communication for just a single group service. The GKM approaches involve inefficient use of keys and huge rekeying overheads, hence unsuitable for multiple multicast group environments. In this paper, we propose a novel GKM protocol for multiple multicast groups, called slot based multiple group key management (SMGKM) scheme. SMGKM supports the movement of single and multiple members across a homogeneous or heterogeneous wireless network while participating in multiple group services with minimized rekeying transmission overheads. Unlike conventional GKM protocols, SMGKM protocol mitigates 1-affect-n phenomenon, single point of failure and investment pressure of signaling load at the core network. The results of the proposed protocol show resource economy in terms of communication bandwidth and storage overheads.