Secure group communication among wireless devices with distributed trust

1. A method of forming a secure group from a plurality of nodes for communicating with a user A, the method comprising

performing, by the nodes, a discover protocol, wherein after performing the discover protocol, all nodes belong to at most one smaller subgroup and wherein all nodes in each smaller subgroup share a common key;

selecting a respective leader for each smaller subgroup;

for each of the leaders, generating a respective common key for the user A and that respective leader; and

generating a key tree having a plurality of levels, wherein the keys for the lowest level of the key tree are the common keys generated for each leader and wherein the keys for each successive layer are generated by combining pairs of keys from lower levels of the key tree;

wherein at least one key included the key tree is used by nodes in the secure group for communications within the secure group.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising distributing the keys in the key tree to the nodes.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein each node has a key ring comprising t-elements.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein performing the discover protocol comprises:

for each node, locally broadcasting a key identifier message that includes key identifiers for all of the keys in the key ring of that respective node to the other nodes in a local neighborhood associated with that respective node, wherein each receiving node in the respective local neighborhood that receives the key identifier message checks if a key identifier included in the key identifier message matches a key identifier of a key included in the key ring of the receive node and, if that is the case, the receiving node transmits a message to the broadcasting node indicating that the receiving node would like to join a small group associated with the broadcasting node.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein locally broadcasting a key identifier message that includes key identifiers for all of the keys in the key ring of the respective node does not reveal anything about that key.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the discover protocol generates a hierarchy of small groups.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein no central authority is used to generate keys.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after initial formation of the secure group, when a joining node wishes to join the secure group:

if that is the case, having the joining node join the respective smaller subgroup of which that neighbor node is a member; and

if that is not the case, having the joining node use a key-exchange method to establish a shared key with the respective leader of the smaller subgroup nearest to the joining node.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising, after the joining node joins the secure group, updating the key tree.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising, after the joining node joins the secure group and the key tree is updated, distributing the updated keys to the nodes in the secure group.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, after initial formation of the secure group, when a leaving node wishes to leave the secure group:

sending a message from the leaving node to the respective leader of the smaller subgroup of which the leaving node is a member;

updating the key tree; and

distributing the updated keys to the nodes in the secure group.

12. A system comprising:

performing a discover protocol, wherein after performing the discover protocol, all nodes belong to at most one smaller subgroup and wherein all nodes in each smaller subgroup share a common key;

selecting a respective leader for each smaller subgroup;

for each of the leaders, generating a respective common key for the user A and that respective leader;

and

generating a key tree having a plurality of levels, wherein the keys for the lowest level of the key tree are the common keys generated for each leader and wherein the keys for each successive layer are generated by combining pairs of keys from lower levels of the key tree.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of nodes are further operable to distribute the keys in the key tree to the nodes.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein each node has a key ring comprising t-elements.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein performing the discover protocol comprises:

if that is the case, the receiving node transmits a message to the broadcasting node indicating that the receiving node would like to join the respective smaller subgroup associated with the broadcasting node.

16. The system of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of nodes are further operable to, after initial formation of the secure group, when a joining node wishes to join the secure group:

if that is the case, having the joining node join the respective smaller subgroup of which that neighbor node is a member; and

if that is not the case, having the joining node use a key-exchange method to establish a shared key with the respective leader of the smaller subgroup nearest to the joining node.

17. The system of claim 12 , wherein each of the plurality of nodes is operable to wirelessly communicate with at least a portion of the plurality of nodes.

18. The system of claim 12 , wherein at least one of the plurality of nodes comprises a wireless sensor node.