Content area
Abstract
This dissertation consists of four chapters. Chapter 1 contains an overview of the remaining three chapters and discussions on related issues in economic theory. Chapters 2 to 4 consider a multiaccess communication network, in which multiple users share a common communication medium and only one user can succeed at a time due to interference. Chapter 2 addresses the issue of cooperation among self-interested users. To prevent a network collapse from the overutilization of the medium, we propose a method called Stackelberg intervention and show that it can reshape the incentives of users so that users cooperate in their self-interest. Chapters 3 and 4 investigate the issue of coordination among obedient users. In order to better utilize the medium, we need a coordination scheme that makes exactly one user access most of the time. We propose a class of protocols based on memory about past information. Chapter 3 analyzes the basic properties of protocols with memory and the performance under protocols with memory. Chapter 4 applies protocols with memory to a more general scenario in which a user is either in a normal situation or in a critical situation. We show that by using protocols with memory, users can coordinate their transmissions in such a way that a user in a critical situation captures the medium without informing other users of its situation explicitly.
