Mobility Management in Energy Constrained Self-Organizing Delay Tolerant Networks: An Autonomic Scheme Based on Game Theory

Abstract

Mobility increases the encounter probability in delay tolerant networks (DTNs) at the expense of increased energy consumption. A game theoretic approach is proposed to address the relevant trade-off between the encounter probability and the energy consumption due to mobility. A non-cooperative, two-strategy, symmetric game is formulated to regulate mobility in energy constrained DTNs. The relevant N-player game gives rise to the proposed autonomic scheme that modifies traditional Poisson-based mobility models toward regulating nodes mobility in synchronized self-organizing DTNs aiming at efficiently employing the nodes residual energy resources. The DTN operation is organized in cycles and is composed of two phases. At the beginning of every cycle, the DTN nodes determine the energy cost due to mobility and, accordingly, engage either in the standard or in the game phase, during which the nodes probabilistically decide either to move following the mobility model adopted or to stay static. Both decisions are related to payoffs expressed in terms of the energy cost and the encounter probability. The numerical results show that the proposed scheme manages the relevant trade-off toward significantly prolonging the lifetime of DTNs amenable to encounter probability reduction.