MARS: Monetized Ad-hoc Routing System Bernardo David * Rafael Dowsley † Mario Larangeira * July 3, 2019 Abstract A Mobile Ad-Hoc Network (MANET) automatically reorganizes itself, allowing moving nodes to join or leave the network at any point in time without disrupting the communication. An essential element of such sys- tems is a routing protocol able to quickly reorganize existing routes when nodes leave and provide routes to previously unknown joining nodes. In most MANET routing protocols, nodes are assumed to be altruistic, that is, forward incoming packets to the next node in the route. However, as pointed out in a number of previous works, this is a big issue in real world scenarios where nodes are often selfish, i.e., refusing to forward incoming packets from their peers but still using the network infrastructure to route their own packets. In this work, we propose MARS, a blockchain-based reputation system that acts as an overlay on top of existing MANET routing protocols (e.g. AODV and OLSR). The main goal of MARS is to keep a publicly available (and verifiable) record of node behavior that can be used to both select good routes and reward nodes that dedicate their resources to routing. As a building block, we propose a compact “proof-of-routing” that allows a node to prove that it has participated in the routing of a given (batch of) packet(s). Upon presenting such a proof, the node is assigned a reputation point that is publicly registered to the blockchain and that can be verified later. Such reputation points are modeled as coins in a cryptocurrency or (more generally) as assets in the blockchain, and as such can be traded for enhanced network services among MANET nodes or traded for other assets (e.g. bitcoin) with third parties. 1 Introduction A mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) allows mobile devices to communicate without any pre-established infrastructure or centralized management. In a MANET, nodes cooperate among themselves to route messages, dynamically adjusting routes as they join, leave and physically move around the network * Tokyo Institute of Technology. Emails: {bernardo,mario}@c.titech.ac.jp. This work was supported by the Input Output Cryptocurrency Collaborative Research Chair, which has received funding from IOHK. † Aarhus University and IOHK. Email: rafael@cs.au.dk. This project has received fund- ing from the European research Council (ERC) under the European Unions’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 669255). This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 731583 (SODA).