# Game theory-based Routing for Wireless Sensor Networks: A Comparative Survey
## 1 Introduction  
A wireless sensor network (WSN) consists of sensor nodes with the ability to sense, process, and communicate. The nodes are fixed in most cases and are subject to limited human intervention. It is a special kind of ad hoc network with minimal or no mobility [1]. It helps us monitor and analyze any unknown environment. Typically, WSNs are data centric. Despite requesting data specific to a node, data are collected based on certain attributes, like temperature and humidity. Therefore, many sensors must be deployed to accurately reflect the physical attributes in a given area [1]. The progress in recent technology has made it possible to deploy thousands of sensor nodes within a network, which are programmable and can sense multiple parameters. Wireless sensors can be deployed at the site of interest without any prior organization. This is a great advantage because it decreases the installation cost and saves time. Moreover, replacing a wired macrosensor with smaller wireless sensors for the same cost can provide us with a wider range of benefits. Another advantage of WSNs is that the failure of one sensor node does not affect the whole network, because there are adjacent nodes collecting a similar kind of data in the target region [1]. There are certain additional features that ideal sensor networks should possess, including attribute-based addressing. Addresses may consist of a group of attribute value pairs. For example, an attribute address may be (temperature \(>\) 45 \({}^{\circ}\)C, location = \"Gwangju\") [1]. Therefore, the responding sensor nodes will be a node in \"Gwangju\", sensing a temperature greater than 45 \({}^{\circ}\)C. Sensor nodes should also provide an accurate and precise response if there are any sudden changes in the environment. Location awareness is another required feature for WSNs. Data collection is mostly based on location, and nodes are expected to know their positions if required. Thus, basically, a WSN consists of sensor nodes, a user, and an interconnected backbone [2]. Currently, WSNs are widely used in significantly crucial applications [3]. In the case of military assignments, the application of WSNs can be identified in information collection, enemy tracking, battlefield surveillance, or target classification [4; 5]. One real time example is the intrusion detection system implemented by the University of Virginia, presented in [6]. Moreover, there is wide-scale usage of WSNs in environmental monitoring. A tracking system for the recognition and improvisation of the waste management system in Seattle is presented in [7]. There are numerous examples of WSN applications. Readers can refer to [2; 8; 9] if they are interested in more information. Therefore, WSNs are required to confront various challenges, like detection, filtering, and estimation, through different applications, which were studied in [10; 11; 12; 13; 14; 15; 16]. Routing in WSNs is challenging and certain important aspects should be carefully considered. First, because a WSN consists of numerous nodes, it is impracticable to create and incorporate a global addressing scheme for the deployment of sensor nodes. This is owing to the overhead of the identity management system. Moreover, sensor nodes should be self-organizing because they are deployed in a random and ad hoc manner. Next, the sensed data in WSNs should be transmitted back towards the base stations. Thus, we can compare its dimensions to the rational thinking of players and strategic games. Furthermore, prompt and reliable communication is necessary because WSNs are often deployed in critical mission scenarios that also require the careful consideration of resources such as energy and storage capacities. Finally, the nodes in traditional WSNs are stationary. A minimal number of mobile nodes can be present, but the mobility is low. Therefore, WSNs are not exposed to unpredictable and frequent topology changes [17]. As mentioned earlier, one of the distinctive properties of WSNs is random deployment without access to external resources [18].