Patent ID: 8452014

Claim:
A method for providing group key management, the method comprising: provisioning each of a plurality of network nodes with at least one group distribution key; deploying the plurality of network nodes as a ad-hoc network; assigning a weight to each node of the plurality of network nodes according to a number of connections to others of the plurality of network nodes and a wireless signal strength to at least one other of the plurality of network nodes; and electing at least one first network node as a first group key manager, wherein the at least one first network node comprises a highest weight of the plurality of network nodes, wherein electing the at least one first network node as the first group key manager comprises: selecting a random backoff time between zero and a fixed key distribution period; and when, during the backoff time, the first group key manager does not receive a new group distribution group key having the highest weight, electing the at least one first network node as the first group key manager and a new group key to each of the plurality of nodes.