Patent ID: 7949876

Claim:
A method of communicating between an Access Router (AR) and a host which receives connection service through said AR, the method comprising the steps of: receiving at the router a cryptographic public key of the host; generating at the AR a One-Way Hash Chain (OWHC); generating at the AR a secret key (Ks) for the host; encrypting at the AR an encrypted message encrypted with the cryptographic public key of the host, said encrypted message including said secret key and a hash value of said OWHC; sending from the AR towards the host the encrypted message; using the Ks, instead of using said cryptographic public and private keys, to sign subsequent messages exchanged between the AR and the host, wherein signing using said Ks requires less processing than encryption using said cryptographic public and private keys; and including values of the OWHC in broadcast messages sent by the AR to enable the AR to prove to the host that the broadcast messages are valid.