Application of Indirect Trust Computation in MANET

Abstract: The mobile ad-hoc network consists of low power mobile devices communicating through radio signals. To minimize the power consumption, we form the clusters with an elected cluster head (Service Provider) based on any cluster head selection strategy. As the topology of this network is time variant due to node mobility, nodes are continuously leaving and entering the clusters, automatically registering with the cluster head to become the member of the cluster. But, there may be a scenario where a new node wants to access a service provided by the cluster head, at this time the newly entered node is unaware of the trustworthiness of the cluster head. To establish a trusted link between newly entered node and CH we have adopted an indirect trust computation technique based on recommendations form an important component in trust-based access control models for pervasive environment. It can provide the new node the confidence to interact with unknown service provider or CH to establish a trusted link for reliable accessibility of the service. In this paper, we will present some existing indirect trust based techniques and subsequently discuss our proposal along with its merits, demerits and future scope.

Keywords: MANET, Cluster Head, Cluster, Trust, Outlier Detection.