Abstract
For secure mobile wireless networks whose topologies are changed dynamically in insecure environments, mobile users need to keep in contact with each other for the purpose of user authentications. For instance, the network formed by a group of soldiers equipped with wireless devices in a battlefield. Maintaining a high connectivity is crucial in such networks in order to authenticate scattered individuals and to be able to communicate with each other. To establish connections, different mobile ad hoc network routing protocols have been developed. However, much research has shown that these protocols are incapable of maintaining high connectivity when the node density is lower in the network. This paper proposes a mechanism to enhance the node connectivity, which is specifically effective for mobile ad hoc networks with lower node densities. It selects some nodes with larger transmission power as strategic nodes to assist in establishing connections with remote nodes, which are unable to connect with otherwise. The strategic nodes have the ability to connect with each other. Whenever a remote mobile node has a request to connect to another remote mobile node, the strategic nodes function as normal mobile nodes and may forward the connection requests to the desired remote destination node. The mechanism is simulated in different scenarios with various node densities, and the results show that the node connectivity is generally enhanced with the benefit of lower node density network, gaining significant improvement.