459 research outputs found
Algorithms for Graph-Constrained Coalition Formation in the Real World
Coalition formation typically involves the coming together of multiple,
heterogeneous, agents to achieve both their individual and collective goals. In
this paper, we focus on a special case of coalition formation known as
Graph-Constrained Coalition Formation (GCCF) whereby a network connecting the
agents constrains the formation of coalitions. We focus on this type of problem
given that in many real-world applications, agents may be connected by a
communication network or only trust certain peers in their social network. We
propose a novel representation of this problem based on the concept of edge
contraction, which allows us to model the search space induced by the GCCF
problem as a rooted tree. Then, we propose an anytime solution algorithm
(CFSS), which is particularly efficient when applied to a general class of
characteristic functions called functions. Moreover, we show how CFSS can
be efficiently parallelised to solve GCCF using a non-redundant partition of
the search space. We benchmark CFSS on both synthetic and realistic scenarios,
using a real-world dataset consisting of the energy consumption of a large
number of households in the UK. Our results show that, in the best case, the
serial version of CFSS is 4 orders of magnitude faster than the state of the
art, while the parallel version is 9.44 times faster than the serial version on
a 12-core machine. Moreover, CFSS is the first approach to provide anytime
approximate solutions with quality guarantees for very large systems of agents
(i.e., with more than 2700 agents).Comment: Accepted for publication, cite as "in press
Efficient computation of the Shapley value for game-theoretic network centrality
The Shapley value—probably the most important normative payoff division scheme in coalitional games—has recently been advocated as a useful measure of centrality in networks. However, although this approach has a variety of real-world applications (including social and organisational networks, biological networks and communication networks), its computational properties have not been widely studied. To date, the only practicable approach to compute Shapley value-based centrality has been via Monte Carlo simulations which are computationally expensive and not guaranteed to give an exact answer. Against this background, this paper presents the first study of the computational aspects of the Shapley value for network centralities. Specifically, we develop exact analytical formulae for Shapley value-based centrality in both weighted and unweighted networks and develop efficient (polynomial time) and exact algorithms based on them. We empirically evaluate these algorithms on two real-life examples (an infrastructure network representing the topology of the Western States Power Grid and a collaboration network from the field of astrophysics) and demonstrate that they deliver significant speedups over the Monte Carlo approach. Fo
Distributed Cooperative Sensing in Cognitive Radio Networks: An Overlapping Coalition Formation Approach
Cooperative spectrum sensing has been shown to yield a significant
performance improvement in cognitive radio networks. In this paper, we consider
distributed cooperative sensing (DCS) in which secondary users (SUs) exchange
data with one another instead of reporting to a common fusion center. In most
existing DCS algorithms, the SUs are grouped into disjoint cooperative groups
or coalitions, and within each coalition the local sensing data is exchanged.
However, these schemes do not account for the possibility that an SU can be
involved in multiple cooperative coalitions thus forming overlapping
coalitions. Here, we address this problem using novel techniques from a class
of cooperative games, known as overlapping coalition formation games, and based
on the game model, we propose a distributed DCS algorithm in which the SUs
self-organize into a desirable network structure with overlapping coalitions.
Simulation results show that the proposed overlapping algorithm yields
significant performance improvements, decreasing the total error probability up
to 25% in the Q_m+Q_f criterion, the missed detection probability up to 20% in
the Q_m/Q_f criterion, the overhead up to 80%, and the total report number up
to 10%, compared with the state-of-the-art non-overlapping algorithm
Inequality and Network Structure
This paper explores the manner in which the structure of a social network constrains the level of inequality that can be sustained among its members. We assume that any distribution of value across the network must be stable with respect to coalitional deviations, and that players can form a deviating coalition only if they constitute a clique in the network. We show that if the network is bipartite, there is a unique stable payoff distribution that is maximally unequal in that it does not Lorenz dominate any other stable distribution. We obtain a complete ordering of the class of bipartite networks and show that those with larger maximum independent sets can sustain greater levels of inequality. The intuition behind this result is that networks with larger maximum independent sets are more sparse and hence offer fewer opportunities for coalitional deviations. We also demonstrate that standard centrality measures do not consistently predict inequality. We extend our framework by allowing a group of players to deviate if they are all within distance k of each other, and show that the ranking of networks by the extent of extremal inequality is not invariant in k.inequality;networks;coalitional deviations;power;centrality
Equilibrium in Labor Markets with Few Firms
We study competition between firms in labor markets, following a
combinatorial model suggested by Kelso and Crawford [1982]. In this model, each
firm is trying to recruit workers by offering a higher salary than its
competitors, and its production function defines the utility generated from any
actual set of recruited workers. We define two natural classes of production
functions for firms, where the first one is based on additive capacities
(weights), and the second on the influence of workers in a social network. We
then analyze the existence of pure subgame perfect equilibrium (PSPE) in the
labor market and its properties. While neither class holds the gross
substitutes condition, we show that in both classes the existence of PSPE is
guaranteed under certain restrictions, and in particular when there are only
two competing firms. As a corollary, there exists a Walrasian equilibrium in a
corresponding combinatorial auction, where bidders' valuation functions belong
to these classes.
While a PSPE may not exist when there are more than two firms, we perform an
empirical study of equilibrium outcomes for the case of weight-based games with
three firms, which extend our analytical results. We then show that stability
can in some cases be extended to coalitional stability, and study the
distribution of profit between firms and their workers in weight-based games
Coalition structure generation over graphs
We give the analysis of the computational complexity of coalition structure generation over graphs. Given an undirected graph G = (N,E) and a valuation function v : P(N) → R over the subsets of nodes, the problem is to find a partition of N into connected subsets, that maximises the sum of the components values. This problem is generally NP-complete; in particular, it is hard for a defined class of valuation functions which are independent of disconnected members — that is, two nodes have no effect on each others marginal contribution to their vertex separator. Nonetheless, for all such functions we provide bounds on the complexity of coalition structure generation over general and minor free graphs. Our proof is constructive and yields algorithms for solving corresponding instances of the problem. Furthermore, we derive linear time bounds for graphs of bounded treewidth. However, as we show, the problem remains NP-complete for planar graphs, and hence, for any Kk minor free graphs where k ≥ 5. Moreover, a 3-SAT problem with m clauses can be represented by a coalition structure generation problem over a planar graph with O(m2) nodes. Importantly, our hardness result holds for a particular subclass of valuation functions, termed edge sum, where the value of each subset of nodes is simply determined by the sum of given weights of the edges in the induced subgraph
Social Data Offloading in D2D-Enhanced Cellular Networks by Network Formation Games
Recently, cellular networks are severely overloaded by social-based services,
such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, in which thousands of clients subscribe
a common content provider (e.g., a popular singer) and download his/her content
updates all the time. Offloading such traffic through complementary networks,
such as a delay tolerant network formed by device-to-device (D2D)
communications between mobile subscribers, is a promising solution to reduce
the cellular burdens. In the existing solutions, mobile users are assumed to be
volunteers who selfishlessly deliver the content to every other user in
proximity while moving. However, practical users are selfish and they will
evaluate their individual payoffs in the D2D sharing process, which may highly
influence the network performance compared to the case of selfishless users. In
this paper, we take user selfishness into consideration and propose a network
formation game to capture the dynamic characteristics of selfish behaviors. In
the proposed game, we provide the utility function of each user and specify the
conditions under which the subscribers are guaranteed to converge to a stable
network. Then, we propose a practical network formation algorithm in which the
users can decide their D2D sharing strategies based on their historical
records. Simulation results show that user selfishness can highly degrade the
efficiency of data offloading, compared with ideal volunteer users. Also, the
decrease caused by user selfishness can be highly affected by the cost ratio
between the cellular transmission and D2D transmission, the access delays, and
mobility patterns
Hedonic Coalition Formation for Distributed Task Allocation among Wireless Agents
Autonomous wireless agents such as unmanned aerial vehicles or mobile base
stations present a great potential for deployment in next-generation wireless
networks. While current literature has been mainly focused on the use of agents
within robotics or software applications, we propose a novel usage model for
self-organizing agents suited to wireless networks. In the proposed model, a
number of agents are required to collect data from several arbitrarily located
tasks. Each task represents a queue of packets that require collection and
subsequent wireless transmission by the agents to a central receiver. The
problem is modeled as a hedonic coalition formation game between the agents and
the tasks that interact in order to form disjoint coalitions. Each formed
coalition is modeled as a polling system consisting of a number of agents which
move between the different tasks present in the coalition, collect and transmit
the packets. Within each coalition, some agents can also take the role of a
relay for improving the packet success rate of the transmission. The proposed
algorithm allows the tasks and the agents to take distributed decisions to join
or leave a coalition, based on the achieved benefit in terms of effective
throughput, and the cost in terms of delay. As a result of these decisions, the
agents and tasks structure themselves into independent disjoint coalitions
which constitute a Nash-stable network partition. Moreover, the proposed
algorithm allows the agents and tasks to adapt the topology to environmental
changes such as the arrival/removal of tasks or the mobility of the tasks.
Simulation results show how the proposed algorithm improves the performance, in
terms of average player (agent or task) payoff, of at least 30.26% (for a
network of 5 agents with up to 25 tasks) relatively to a scheme that allocates
nearby tasks equally among agents.Comment: to appear, IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computin
Coalitional Game Theory for Communication Networks: A Tutorial
Game theoretical techniques have recently become prevalent in many
engineering applications, notably in communications. With the emergence of
cooperation as a new communication paradigm, and the need for self-organizing,
decentralized, and autonomic networks, it has become imperative to seek
suitable game theoretical tools that allow to analyze and study the behavior
and interactions of the nodes in future communication networks. In this
context, this tutorial introduces the concepts of cooperative game theory,
namely coalitional games, and their potential applications in communication and
wireless networks. For this purpose, we classify coalitional games into three
categories: Canonical coalitional games, coalition formation games, and
coalitional graph games. This new classification represents an
application-oriented approach for understanding and analyzing coalitional
games. For each class of coalitional games, we present the fundamental
components, introduce the key properties, mathematical techniques, and solution
concepts, and describe the methodologies for applying these games in several
applications drawn from the state-of-the-art research in communications. In a
nutshell, this article constitutes a unified treatment of coalitional game
theory tailored to the demands of communications and network engineers.Comment: IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, Special Issue on Game Theory, to
appear, 2009. IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, Special Issue on Game Theory,
to appear, 200
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