Secure wireless cooperative broadcast networks

#Embodiments of the present invention relate, in general, to wireless network security and, more particularly, to securing data communications between devices in a wireless cooperative broadcast network.

#Military communications networks are often secured with devices or systems that are approved by national or transnational authorities. In the United States (US), the National Security Agency (NSA) is the cognizant authority and NSA “Type 1” products can be used to secure classified US Government information. These devices and systems are certified by the NSA following a rigorous process that includes testing and formal analysis of cryptographic security, functional security, tamper resistance, emissions security, etc.

#The devices and systems that are used to secure military communications networks often use cryptographic algorithms with specifications that are protected by national or transnational authorities. Type 1 products, for example, may implement “NSA Suite A” algorithms. The combination of application-specific, classified cryptographic algorithms with stringent and laborious certification processes act to drive up the per-unit costs of Type 1 devices and systems. These costs are negligible for large platforms—e.g., the radios installed on aircraft carriers or in satellite terminals—but have become significant for small, inexpensive platforms such as handheld radios, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and network-enabled weapons (NEW).

#The aforementioned and other features and objects of the present invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent, and the invention itself will be best understood, by reference to the following description of one or more embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

#FIG. 1 presents a typical layered unicast VPN encryption protocol as would be known to one of reasonable skill in the relevant art;

#FIG. 2A shows a representative military communications multicast network application as would be known to one of reasonable skill in the relevant art;

#The Figures depict embodiments of the present invention for purposes of illustration only. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. In the figures, the sizes of certain lines, layers, components, elements or features may be exaggerated for clarity. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments of the structures and methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles of the invention described herein.

#A system and method for cryptographically securing data communications between layered groups of devices in a wireless cooperative broadcast network is hereafter disclosed. In one or more embodiments of the present invention, the wireless cooperative broadcast network is a barrage relay network; in other embodiments, the wireless cooperative broadcast network is an opportunistic large array. Datagrams are encrypted, in one embodiment, twice prior to transmission by a source device, first using an inner layer key that is shared by a first group of devices, and second by using an outer layer key shared by a second group of devices; the devices of the first group being a subset of the members of the second group. In some embodiments, the outer layer key is shared by all devices in the wireless cooperative broadcast network. Received datagrams are recovered by first decrypting with the outer layer key and then by a second decrypting using the inner layer key.

#Embodiments of the present invention are hereafter described in detail with reference to the accompanying Figures. Although the invention has been described and illustrated with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the combination and arrangement of parts can be resorted to by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.