A Comprehensive Appraisal of Ad hoc Networks

Abstract

An ad hoc network is a group of wireless mobile hosts that are connected momentarily through wireless connections in the dearth of any centralized control or some supporting services. The circumstances where it is likely unrealistic or infeasible to deploy infrastructure, in these cases mobile devices could set up a possibly short lived network for the communication needs of the moment by a quick deployment. Security is a vital issue in an ad hoc network owing to its intrinsic vulnerabilities. These vulnerabilities are nature of its structure that cannot be eliminated. Consequently, attacks with malicious objectives have been and will be devised to exploit these vulnerabilities and to perturb its operations. This paper presents an inclusive study of the ad hoc network in terms of its characteristics, vulnerabilities, challenges, routing, authentication and attacks specific to these types of networks.