Rethinking incentives for mobile ad hoc networks

Abstract

Without sufficient nodes cooperating to provide relaying functions, a mobile ad hoc network cannot function properly. Consequently various proposals have been made which provide incentives for individual users of an ad hoc mobile network to cooperate with each other. In this paper we examine this problem and analyse the drawbacks of currently proposed incentive systems. We then argue that there may not be a need for incentive systems at all, especially in the early stages of adoption, where excessive complexity can only hurt the deployment of ad hoc networks. We look at the needs of different customer segments at each stage of the technological adoption cycle and propose that incentive systems should not be used until ad hoc networks enter mainstream markets. Even then, incentive systems should be tailored to the needs of each individual application rather than adopting a generalised approach that may be flawed or too technically demanding to be implemented in reality.