TOHIP: A topology-hiding multipath routing protocol in mobile ad hoc networks

Existing multipath routing protocols in MANETs ignore the topology-exposure problem. This paper analyzes the threats of topology-exposure and propose a TOpology-HIding multipath Protocol (TOHIP). TOHIP does not allow packets to carry routing information, so the malicious nodes cannot deduce network topology and launch various attacks based on that. The protocol can also establish multiple node-disjoint routes in a route discovery attempt and exclude unreliable routes before transmitting packets. We formally prove that TOHIP is loop-free and does not expose network topology. Security analysis shows that TOHIP can resist various kinds of attacks efficiently and effectively. Simulation results demonstrate that TOHIP has better capability of finding routes and can greatly increase the capability of delivering packets in the scenarios where there are malicious nodes at the cost of low routing overhead.