Incentivizing Sharing in Realtime D2D Streaming Networks: A Mean Field Game Perspective
Abstract: We consider the problem of streaming live content to a cluster of co-located co wireless devices that have both an expensive unicast base-station station-to-device (B2D) interface, as well as an inexpensive broadcast device-to-device device device (D2D) interface, which can be used simultaneously. Our setting is a streaming system that uses a block-by-block block random linear coding approach to achieve a target percentage of on-time time deliveries with minimal B2D usage. Our goal is to design an incentive framework that would promote such cooperation across devices, while ensuring good quality of service. Based on the ideas drawn from truth-telling truth telling auctions, we design n a mechanism that achieves this goal via appropriate transfers (monetary payments or rebates) in a setting with a large number of devices, and with peer arrivals and departures. Here, we show that a mean field game can be used to accurately approximate ou ourr system. Furthermore, the complexity of calculating the best responses under this regime is low. We implement the proposed system on an Android testbed, and illustrate its efficient performance using real world experiments.