Abstract
SUMMARY: The heterogeneous networks belonging to different service providers form a coalition system for maximizing the profit, where they may either compete or cooperate with each other. In this paper, we introduce the Lokta-Volterra model, a differential dynamics model, to build the competitive and cooperative mechanisms of heterogeneous networks. It considers the natural growth rate of the network itself and competitive and cooperative effects among networks. Then, according to the ordinary differential principle, the stability of the proposed model and its equilibrium points are analyzed. And finally, system performances are evaluated by Vensim that is used for developing, analyzing, and packaging dynamic feedback models. Analysis and simulation results show that the natural growth rate of the network cannot increase its profit, but effective cooperative mechanism among heterogeneous networks can increase the profit of each network. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.