MSPA - OLSR : A Novel Multi-Tasking Secure OLSR Version for Ad Hoc Networks
Received: 2 April 2026 | Revised: 8 May 2026 | Accepted: 19 May 2026 | Online: 23 May 2026
Corresponding author: Nada Mouchfiq
Abstract
Smart system security remains a major challenge of the wider adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) and ad hoc networks. In this paper, we present the integration of the MSPA (Multi-task Secure Protocol for Ad-hoc networks) security concept into the OLSR (Optimized Link State Routing) protocol, resulting in the secure variant MSPA-OLSR. This approach is designed to strengthen the security of routing mechanisms in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs) by addressing vulnerabilities and enhancing resilience against potential threats. The approach is then simulated using the NS3 network simulator to evaluate its performance in terms of key Quality of Service (QoS) metrics, such as packet delivery ratio, end-to-end delay, throughput, and routing overhead.
Keywords:
security, networks, routing, MANETs, protocol, OLSR, IoTReferences
R. Jain, "Ant Colony Inspired Energy Efficient OLSR (AC-OLSR) Routing Protocol in MANETS," Wireless Personal Communications, vol. 124, no. 4, pp. 3307–3320, June 2022.
I. Baird, I. Wadhaj, B. Ghaleb, and C. Thomson, "Impact Analysis of Security Attacks on Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs)," Electronics, vol. 13, no. 16, Aug. 2024.
N. Mouchfiq, A. Habbani, and C. Benjbara, "Security Issues in MANETs: A Survey," in Proceedings of Fifth International Congress on Information and Communication Technology, 2021, pp. 288–295.
S. Sangheethaa, "A comparative study for block chain applications in the MANET." arXiv, June 15, 2023.
J. M. Kizza, "Introduction to Computer Network Vulnerabilities," in Guide to Computer Network Security, J. M. Kizza, Ed. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2017, pp. 87–103.
C. Selvan, M. A. Gunavathie, S. A. Alex, and S. J. Hussain, "An Energy-Efficient Multipath Routing Protocol for Secure Video-Packet Transmission Across MANETs Using a Blockchain Framework," International Journal of Communication Systems, vol. 39, no. 2, 2026, Art. no. e70363.
F. Lakrami, M. E. Kamili, N. Elkamoun, H. Sounni, and O. Labouidya, "A secure based trust model for Optimized Link State Routing protocol (OLSR)," in 2023 10th International Conference on Wireless Networks and Mobile Communications (WINCOM), July 2023, pp. 1–5.
P. Mohanraj and S. Anbu Karuppusamy, "Efficient security framework against sybil attack in mobile adhoc network using EE-OLSR protocol scheme," Wireless Networks, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 661–669, Feb. 2024.
R. P. Premanand and A. Rajaram, "Enhanced data accuracy based PATH discovery using backing route selection algorithm in MANET," Peer-to-Peer Networking and Applications, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 2089–2098, Nov. 2020.
S. Rahamat Basha et al., "Implementation of Reliability Antecedent Forwarding Technique Using Straddling Path Recovery in Manet," Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing, vol. 2022, no. 1, 2022, Art. no. 6489185.
G. Vidhya Lakshmi and P. Vaishnavi, "A trusted security approach to detect and isolate routing attacks in mobile ad hoc networks," Journal of Engineering Research, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 379–386, Sept. 2024.
M. M. Muhammad and H. A. A. AL-Asadi, "A Deep Learning-Based Enhancement to OLSR for Robust Attack Detection and Secure Multimedia Transmission in MANETs," Journal of Basrah Research Sciences, vol. 51, no. 1, pp. 15–15, June 2025.
X. Huo, "Blockchain-Based Distributed Network Security Architecture with Smart Contract Vulnerability Detection Using Improved Tree CNN," Informatica, vol. 49, no. 17, Mar. 2025.
V. R. Sugumaran, E. Dinesh, R. Ramya, and E. Muniyandy, "Distributed blockchain assisted secure data aggregation scheme for risk-aware zone-based MANET," Scientific Reports, vol. 15, no. 1, Mar. 2025, Art. no. 8022.
V. S. Naresh, V. V. L. D. Allavarpu, S. Reddi, P. S. R. Murty, N. V. S. L. Raju, and R. N. V. J. Mohan, "A provably secure sharding based blockchain smart contract centric hierarchical group key agreement for large wireless ad-hoc networks," Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience, vol. 34, no. 3, 2022, Art. no. e6553.
Nada Mouchfiq, "Novel Collaborative Approaches for Mobile Environment’s Security," Ph.D. dissertation, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Rabat, Morocco, 2023.
"ns-3 Network Simulator," ns-3. https://www.nsnam.org/.
Downloads
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Nada Mouchfiq

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain the copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) after its publication in ETASR with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
