CIF: Small: Cooperation in networks: a quantitative study

该项目致力于分布式网络中合作的研究，首先通过研究简单的结构，将专用资源隔离用于全球或本地合作，然后直接在一般网络中进行研究。 这项工作分为三个重点。 第一个推力采用了一个全球促进者，可以访问网络中的所有消息，并可以将这些消息的rate-R描述传输到所有节点。将这样一个网络的容量作为R的函数来界定，给出了给定网络中合作的最小成本和最大收益的一阶估计。 在第二个推力，我们从全球到地方合作模式，以了解有多少合作优势，可以实现使用较小的合作者群体。 最后的推力研究的实施和近似的最成功的合作策略，从早期的推力用于无线，传感器和有线网络，在这里的速率采用，使合作共享相同的网络资源的能力，它的目的是increasing.Example网络表现出巨大的潜在利益，通过使用的策略，采用通信设备之间的合作，在通信系统的性能。 性能改进在这里被测量为可以通过通信网络可靠地传递的信息量的增加。 通过协作增加速率可以允许更多用户同时通信或者每个用户在给定网络中以增加的速率通信。该项目旨在发展基于合作的通信战略的理论基础，并帮助指导通信协议的设计，以实现合作的好处。

This project addresses the study of cooperation in distributed networks, first through the study of simple structures that isolate dedicated resources for global or local cooperation and then directly in general networks. The work is organized into three thrusts. The first thrust employs a global facilitator that has access to all messages in the network and can transmit a rate-R description of these messages to all nodes. Bounding the capacity of such a network as a function of R gives a first-order estimate of the minimal cost and maximal benefit of cooperation in a given network. In the second thrust, we move from global to local models of cooperation to understand how much of the cooperative advantage can be achieved using smaller groups of cooperators. The final thrust studies the implementation and approximation of the most successful cooperation strategies from the earlier thrusts for use in wireless, sensor, and wired networks; here the rate employed to enable cooperation shares the same network resources as the capacity it aims to increase.Example networks demonstrate large potential benefits in communication system performance through the use of strategies that employ cooperation among the communicating devices. Performance improvement is here measured as an increase in the amount of information that can be reliably delivered through a communication network. Increasing rate through cooperation may allow more users to simultaneous communicate or each user to communicate at an increased rate in a given network. This project aims to develop the theoretical foundations of cooperation-based communication strategies and to help guide the design of communication protocols that realize the benefits of cooperation in practice.