An Overview of Group Key Management Issues in IEEE 802.16e Networks

The computer industry has defined the IEEE 802.16 family of standards that will enable mobile devices to access a broadband network as an alternative to digital subscriber line technology. As the mobile devices join and leave a network, security measures must be taken to ensure the safety of the network against unauthorized usage by encryption and group key management. IEEE 802.16e uses Multicast and Broadcast Service (MBS) as an efficient mechanism to distribute the same data concurrently to Multiple mobile Stations (MSs) through one Base Station (BS). To generate, update and distribute the group keys, the MBS applies Multicast and Broadcast Rekeying Algorithm (MBRA). The main performance parameters of group key management schemes are typically communications, computation and storage cost as well as scalability. The purpose of this paper is to review and investigate the challenges and security issues of performance parameters in different group key managements in IEEE 802.16e.