Chapter

Internet and Network Economics

Volume 5385 of the series Lecture Notes in Computer Science pp 531-538

Asynchronous Best-Reply Dynamics

  • Noam NisanAffiliated withGoogle Tel-Aviv and The School of Computer Science and Engineering, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • , Michael SchapiraAffiliated withThe School of Computer Science and Engineering, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • , Aviv ZoharAffiliated withThe School of Computer Science and Engineering, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

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Abstract

In many real-world settings (e.g., interdomain routing in the Internet) strategic agents are instructed to follow best-reply dynamics in asynchronous environments. In such settings players learn of each other’s actions via update messages that can be delayed or even lost. In particular, several players might update their actions simultaneously, or make choices based on outdated information. In this paper we analyze the convergence of best- (and better-)reply dynamics in asynchronous environments. We provide sufficient conditions, and necessary conditions for convergence in such settings, and also study the convergence-rate of these natural dynamics.