US Patent 7581095 Mobile-ad-hoc network including node authentication features and related methods

A mobile ad-hoc network may include a first node having a first public key and a first private key associated therewith for generating an authentication request. The network may also include a second node having a second public key and a second private key associated therewith for receiving the authentication request and returning a certificate of authenticity including the second public key to the first node. Upon verifying that the second public key belongs to the second node, the first node may send challenge data to the second node, and the second node may encrypt the challenge data using the second private key and return the encrypted challenge data back to the first node. The first node may thus decrypt the encrypted challenge data using the verified second public key and authenticate the second node if the decryption of the encrypted challenge data yields the original challenge data.