Wireless Networking Games: an Overview of Game-theoretic Approaches to
Resource Management in Wireless and Ad Hoc Networks

Luiz A. DaSilva

Electrical & Computer Engineering

Virginia Tech

In this presentation, we will discuss some of the research in wireless
networks currently being conducted at Virginia Tech. In particular, we
will focus on an ongoing project funded by the Office of Naval Research
that looks at Game Theory to analyze and optimize resource management
in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs). MANETs are characterized by a
self-organizing and de-centralized network architecture, where nodes
are independently capable of adapting their operation based on measured
statistics from the network, the channel and the mobile in accordance to
pre-determined algorithms or state machines. Resource management in such
a network may involve power control, admission control, energy-aware task
management, channel-aware rate adaptation and mobility management, among
others. Nodes in a MANET may make independent decisions, for instance
choosing not to relay packets between other nodes in the network in order
to conserve energy. A game-theoretic treatment allows us to model node
behavior in such a scenario, by considering the best strategies that a
node would adopt in response to expected behavior by other nodes in the
network (in game-theoretic terms, the expected equilibria). This is useful
to predict the performance of the network and to engineer distributed
resource management mechanisms that provide sufficient incentives for
users to behave in a manner that is beneficial to the network as a whole.

Speaker's bio:

Luiz A. DaSilva joined Virginia Tech as an Assistant Professor at
the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 1998,
after receiving his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at the University of
Kansas. He has previously worked for IBM for six years. Dr. DaSilva's
research interests focus on performance and resource management in
wireless mobile networks and Quality of Service (QoS) issues. He is
currently involved in funded research projects in the areas of QoS
interoperability and network policy, resource management mechanisms
for the deployment of smart antennas in 3G systems, and mobile ad-hoc
networks, among others. Dr. DaSilva has published over thirty-five
refereed papers in journals and major conferences in the communications
and computer areas. Current and recent research sponsors include NSF,
the Office for Naval Research, the U.S. Customs, Intel, and Microsoft
Research, among others. He is a member of the Center for Wireless
Communications (CWT), associated faculty at the Mobile and Personal
Radio Research Group (MPRG), and a member of the Governing Board of
the NSF-funded Integrated Research and Education in Advanced Networking
(IREAN) program at Virginia Tech. Dr. DaSilva is a senior member of IEEE,
a member of ASEE, and a past recipient of the ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in
Education New Faculty Fellow award.