GOSPAL: An Efficient Strategy-Proof Mechanism for Constrained Resource Allocation

We consider allocation of a resource to multiple interested users with a constraint that if the resource is allocated to user i, then it cannot be allocated simultaneously to a predefined set of users l(i). This scenario arises in many practical systems that include wireless networks and constrained queuing systems. It is known that the socially optimal strategy-proof mechanism is not only NP-hard, but it is also hard to approximate. This renders optimal mechanism computationally infeasible to use in practice. Here, we propose a computationally efficient mechanism and prove it to be strategy-proof. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the social utility of the proposed scheme is close to that of the optimal. Further, we demonstrate how the proposed mechanism can be used for fair and efficient short-term spectrum allocation in resource-constrained large wireless networks.