Network-Centric Warfare
Further Information
Scale-Free Networks
Developed by Réka Albert and Albert-László Barabási, Scale-Free networks grow by a process of preferential attachment. The diagram below is a 2-linked Scale-Free network, where each new node is connected to 1 or 2 existing nodes. The new links are preferentially directed to “hub” nodes, and consequently Scale-Free networks have a small number of very well connected “hubs:”
Like Random networks and Small-World networks, Scale-Free networks have a low average number of “hops” to get from one node in the network to another. This relates to the time taken to send a message across the network (see Topology).
Scale-Free networks not a good design for communications networks, because they collapse when the “hubs” are targeted by deliberate attack. However, they are quite resistant to random failures. At a TCP/IP level (but not at a physical level), the Internet is a scale-free network. For example, google.com acts as a major “hub.” This Scale-Free logical structure of the Internet encourages the propagation of computer viruses.
Human communication networks tend to be approximately Scale-Free. This includes collaboration networks between terrorists, movie actors and scientists, as well as phone-call patterns and sexual networks. Organisational networks within Defence, like the one below, also tend to be Scale-Free:
References
- Albert-László Barabási (2002), Linked: The New Science of Networks, Perseus Publishing.
- Réka Albert & Albert-László Barabási (2002), Statistical Mechanics Of Complex Networks, Reviews of Modern Physics, 74, 47–97.
- Anthony Dekker & Bernard Colbert (2004), Scale-Free Networks and Robustness of Critical Infrastructure Networks, Proc. 7th Asia-Pacific Conference on Complex Systems.
- Topology
- Small-World Networks