# Interdomain routing and games

## Author Info

• Levin, Hagay
• Schapira, Michael
• Zohar, Aviv

## Abstract

We present a game-theoretic model that captures many of the intricacies of \emph{interdomain routing} in today's Internet. In this model, the strategic agents are source nodes located on a network, who aim to send traffic to a unique destination node. The interaction between the agents is dynamic and complex -- asynchronous, sequential, and based on partial information. Best-reply dynamics in this model capture crucial aspects of the only interdomain routing protocol de facto, namely the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). We study complexity and incentive-related issues in this model. Our main results are showing that in realistic and well-studied settings, BGP is incentive-compatible. I.e., not only does myopic behaviour of all players \emph{converge} to a stable'' routing outcome, but no player has motivation to unilaterally deviate from the protocol. Moreover, we show that even \emph{coalitions} of players of \emph{any} size cannot improve their routing outcomes by collaborating. Unlike the vast majority of works in mechanism design, our results do not require any monetary transfers (to or by the agents).

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File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/8476/1/MPRA_paper_8476.pdf
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## Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by University Library of Munich, Germany in its series MPRA Paper with number 8476.

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 Length: Date of creation: 30 Jan 2008 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:8476 Contact details of provider: Postal: Schackstr. 4, D-80539 Munich, GermanyPhone: +49-(0)89-2180-2219Fax: +49-(0)89-2180-3900Web page: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.deMore information through EDIRC

## References

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1. Sergiu Hart & Yishay Mansour, 2006. "The Communication Complexity of Uncoupled Nash Equilibrium Procedures," Discussion Paper Series dp419, The Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
2. Nisan, Noam & Ronen, Amir, 2001. "Algorithmic Mechanism Design," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 35(1-2), pages 166-196, April.
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