An Abstraction-Refinement Methodologyfor Reasoning about Network Games†

Network games (NGs) are played on directed graphs and are extensively used in network design and analysis. Search problems for NGs include finding special strategy profiles such as a Nash equilibrium and a globally-optimal solution. The networks modeled by NGs may be huge. In formal verification, ab...

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Main Authors: Guy Avni, Shibashis Guha, Orna Kupferman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2018-06-01
Series:Games
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4336/9/3/39
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author Guy Avni
Shibashis Guha
Orna Kupferman
author_facet Guy Avni
Shibashis Guha
Orna Kupferman
author_sort Guy Avni
collection DOAJ
description Network games (NGs) are played on directed graphs and are extensively used in network design and analysis. Search problems for NGs include finding special strategy profiles such as a Nash equilibrium and a globally-optimal solution. The networks modeled by NGs may be huge. In formal verification, abstraction has proven to be an extremely effective technique for reasoning about systems with big and even infinite state spaces. We describe an abstraction-refinement methodology for reasoning about NGs. Our methodology is based on an abstraction function that maps the state space of an NG to a much smaller state space. We search for a global optimum and a Nash equilibrium by reasoning on an under- and an over-approximation defined on top of this smaller state space. When the approximations are too coarse to find such profiles, we refine the abstraction function. We extend the abstraction-refinement methodology to labeled networks, where the objectives of the players are regular languages. Our experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the methodology.
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spelling doaj.art-ad201db95f7e4bf6936f13303f4ef4ba2022-12-22T03:37:28ZengMDPI AGGames2073-43362018-06-01933910.3390/g9030039g9030039An Abstraction-Refinement Methodologyfor Reasoning about Network Games†Guy Avni0Shibashis Guha1Orna Kupferman2The Institute of Science and Technology Austria (IST Austria), Am Campus 1, 3400 Klosterneuburg, AustriaUniversité Libre de Bruxelles, Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50, 1050 Bruxelles, BelgiumSchool of Computer Science and Engineering, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, IsraelNetwork games (NGs) are played on directed graphs and are extensively used in network design and analysis. Search problems for NGs include finding special strategy profiles such as a Nash equilibrium and a globally-optimal solution. The networks modeled by NGs may be huge. In formal verification, abstraction has proven to be an extremely effective technique for reasoning about systems with big and even infinite state spaces. We describe an abstraction-refinement methodology for reasoning about NGs. Our methodology is based on an abstraction function that maps the state space of an NG to a much smaller state space. We search for a global optimum and a Nash equilibrium by reasoning on an under- and an over-approximation defined on top of this smaller state space. When the approximations are too coarse to find such profiles, we refine the abstraction function. We extend the abstraction-refinement methodology to labeled networks, where the objectives of the players are regular languages. Our experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the methodology.http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4336/9/3/39network formation gamesabstraction-refinementNash equilibriumsocial optimum
spellingShingle Guy Avni
Shibashis Guha
Orna Kupferman
An Abstraction-Refinement Methodologyfor Reasoning about Network Games†
Games
network formation games
abstraction-refinement
Nash equilibrium
social optimum
title An Abstraction-Refinement Methodologyfor Reasoning about Network Games†
title_full An Abstraction-Refinement Methodologyfor Reasoning about Network Games†
title_fullStr An Abstraction-Refinement Methodologyfor Reasoning about Network Games†
title_full_unstemmed An Abstraction-Refinement Methodologyfor Reasoning about Network Games†
title_short An Abstraction-Refinement Methodologyfor Reasoning about Network Games†
title_sort abstraction refinement methodologyfor reasoning about network games†
topic network formation games
abstraction-refinement
Nash equilibrium
social optimum
url http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4336/9/3/39
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