In this talk we explore the problem of
designing a communication protocol/mechanism so that rational agents achieve a
predefined globally optimal goal, through the study of MAC-layer design in a
relay channel under the assumption that the source and relay are operating
strategically with the objective to minimize an average cost incorporating
their
own energy consumed for transmission and the delay incurred due to queuing.
We show that when nodes are strategic, there exist (state-dependent) payment
transfers between source and relay such that the resulting dynamic game has a
unique sub-game perfect equilibrium that coincides with the socially optimal
goal. We will comment on how this result can be generalized to the more
interesting situation of asymmetric information.