Patent ID: 7401217

Claim:
A method for authenticating packets transmitted serially in an ad hoc network, comprising: selecting a current password P i for a current packet to be transmitted, the current packet including current data M i ; applying a one-way/one-time hash function h to the current password P i to form a current tag Y i of the current packet as Y i =h(P i ); selecting a next password P i+1 for a next packet to be transmitted, the next packet including next data M i+1 ; applying the one-way/one-time hash function h to the next password P i+1 to form a next tag Y i+1 of the next packet as Y i+1 =h(P i+1 ); applying the one-way/one-time hash function h to the next data M i+1 the next tag Y i+1 , and the current password P i of the current packet to obtain Z i+1 =h(M i+1 , Y i+1 , P i ); and transmitting, in an ad hoc network, the current packet from a source node to a destination node via intermediate nodes along a route including multiple hops, the current packet including Z i+1 , the current data M i , the current tag Y i , and a previous password P i−1 of a previously transmitted packet to authenticate the current data M i , in which the transmitting further comprises: maintaining, in a route cache in each node along the route, a node list describing the route through the ad hoc network; and applying the one-way/one-time hash function h on a per hop basis along the route to verify that no intermediate hop is omitted in a node list.