Formation Games of Reliable Networks

TL;DR

This paper models the Internet's Autonomous System interconnection as a network formation game considering heterogeneity and reliability, analyzing its static and dynamic properties and validating predictions with real data.

Contribution

It introduces a novel game-theoretic model for AS interconnections that includes reliability and heterogeneity, providing insights into network motifs and topology evolution.

Findings

Prevalence of certain network motifs explained by the model

Dynamic evolution aligns with real-world Internet topology data

Reliability considerations significantly influence network formation

Abstract

We establish a network formation game for the Internet's Autonomous System (AS) interconnection topology. The game includes different types of players, accounting for the heterogeneity of ASs in the Internet. We incorporate reliability considerations in the player's utility function, and analyze static properties of the game as well as its dynamic evolution. We provide dynamic analysis of its topological quantities, and explain the prevalence of some "network motifs" in the Internet graph. We assess our predictions with real-world data.