Group key management with network mobility

Secure multicast communication is important for both wired and wireless applications. For groups with frequent join or depart requests, a distributed architecture that partitions the group members into several areas is preferred. Inside each area, scalable algorithms such as logical key hierarchy (LKH) can be used to update the group key. However, these algorithms do not consider mobile members traveling in a mobile network as a whole. In this paper, we proposed two group key management schemes, which treat mobile members traveling in a mobile network as a whole. Both schemes try to reduce the communication costs when the mobile network moves in or out of the area. Simulation results show significant reduction in communications costs even for small number of mobile members in the mobile network.