Research Issues and Overview of Incentive-Compatible Topology Evolution in Autonomous Overlay Networks

In large-scale overlay network, the formation of network depends on the decisions of many autonomous and rational participants. So, it is essential to have theories about how such networks structures matter, how they form, and what approaches can be designed to guide peers´ local behaviors. In this paper, we propose whole research framework, from viewpoint of global network structure and local peers´ interaction, to categorize and describe the challenges and solutions to incentive-compatible topology evolution in autonomous overlay network. Specifically, we give a formal account of network formation models (mechanical vs. economic) drawn from a variety of research disciplines, then characterize the stability and efficiency of overlay network topology, and discuss the tension between them. Finally, from non-cooperative and cooperative viewpoints, we illustrate that mechanism design and allocation rule from economic filed can be used to stimulate peers´ cooperative behaviors in building and maintaining overlay topology.