Deceptive Routing in Relay Networks

Physical-layer and MAC-layer defense mechanisms against jamming attacks are often inherently reactive to experienced delay and loss of throughput after being attacked. In this paper, we study a proactive defense mechanism against jamming in multi-hop relay networks, in which one or more network sources introduce a deceptive network flow along a disjoint routing path. The deceptive mechanism leverages strategic jamming behaviors, causing the attacker to expend resources on targeting deceptive flows and thereby reducing the impact on real network traffic. We use a two-stage game model to obtain deception strategies at Stackelberg equilibrium for selfish and altruistic nodes. The equilibrium solutions are illustrated and corroborated through a simulation study.