Peer Collaboration in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks

Abstract. Voluntary peer collaboration is often assumed in media access, route discovery, packet forwarding, and upper-layer protocols for wireless ad hoc networks. This assumption is seriously challenged when some peers are autonomous, selfish, or malicious in large-scale, heterogeneous networks. In this paper, based on the latest advances in identitybased cryptography, we design a lightweight and cheat-resistant micropayment scheme to stimulate and compensate collaborative peers that sacrifice their resources to relay packets for other peers. We also demonstrate that when security and collaboration measures are properly enforced, profitable collaboration is a preferable strategy for all peers.