A survey on barter-based incentive mechanism in opportunistic networks

Opportunistic networks are important techniques to enable users to communicate in an environment where contemporaneous end-to-end paths are unavailable or unstable. Message delivery is implemented through store-carry-and-forward manner by use of short message transmission technologies such as Bluetooth or WiFi. To stimulate cooperation and prevent selfish behavior is an important challenge in Opportunistic Networks. Barter game is one of the most popular motivations to tackle this problem. This paper surveys the recent barter-based incentive mechanisms in Opportunistic Networks.