A Game Theoretical Data Replication Technique for Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Adaptive replication of data items on servers of a mobile ad hoc network can alleviate access delays. The selection of data items and servers requires solving a constrained optimization problem, that is in general NP-complete. The problem is further complicated by frequent partitions of the ad hoc network. In this paper, a mathematical model for data replication in ad hoc networks is formulated. The authors treat the mobile servers in the ad hoc network as self-interested entities, hence they have the capability to manipulate the outcome of a resource allocation mechanism by misrepresenting their valuations. They design a game theoretic "Truthful" mechanism in which replicas are allocated to mobile servers based on reported valuations.