Reputation-Based Resource Allocation in P2P Systems: A Game Theoretic Perspective

Abstract

Free-riding is a severe problem in peer-to-peer systems. It can be controlled by adopting an effective resource allocation mechanism. This paper game theoretically analyzes a resource allocation mechanism, through two non-cooperative games viz., demand game and reputation game. This mechanism ensures that demands made by peers are commensurate to their shared capacity. We show that Nash equilibrium behavior of agents in our model is cooperative, which leads to fair and efficient allocation of network resource. Our findings show that through this mechanism, the system reaches to equilibrium where peers interact in groups formed on the basis of their capacities.