Game-Based Channel Access for AoI-Oriented Data Transmission Under Dynamic Attack

Efficient grant-free uplink transmission is critical in minimizing Age of Information (AoI) in multi-channel Internet of Things (IoT) networks. But less attention has been paid to this topic especially when dynamic channel access attacks (DCAAs) exist. To bridge this gap, this paper formulates the distributed channel access problem in AoI-oriented IoT networks, and then a reinforcement learning-based solution is put forward based on the theoretical results of the game theory. Firstly, a utility maximization problem is formulated for each sensor node based on its average AoI under DCAAs with probabilistic ACK feedback. Secondly, the problem is transformed into two ordinary potential game (OPG) models, which are both proved to have at least one Nash Equilibrium (NE); and a distributed learning algorithm is proposed to reach the NE. Finally, extensive simulations are conducted to evaluate the proposal’s performance. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in various parameters settings.