Marketplaces as Communication Patterns in Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks

This paper proposes a novel communication pattern for mobile multihop ad-hoc networks which is based on a marketplace metaphor. In order to substantially increase the probability that negotiating peers sucessfully reach an agreement, communication is focused on a static geographic area, called the marketplace. Users are not constrained to be at the marketplace physically, but are allowed to utilize other ones mobile devices located at the marketplace to let a software agent or a service installed on each device negotiate with others on their behalf. The forwarding and negotiation protocols needed to implement the marketplace solution are described in this work. Additionally, a prototypical implementation of the protocols is evaluated in a simulation environment. Since simulation results strongly depend on the mobility model, three realistic models based on an extension of the random way-point model are used. Their movement patterns are resulting from persons on a music festival, a university campus, and an exhibition.