Design of endurable networks in the presence of aging

摘要

Networks are designed to satisfy given objectives under specificrequirements. While the static connectivity of networks is normally analyzedand corresponding design principles for static robustness are proposed, thechallenge still remains of how to design endurable networks that maintain therequired level of connectivity during its whole lifespan, against componentaging. We introduce network endurance as a new concept to evaluate networksoverall performance during its whole lifespan, considering both networkconnectivity and network duration. We develop a framework for designing anendurable network by allocating the expected lifetimes of its components, givena limited budget. Based on percolation theory and simulation, we find that themaximal network endurance can be achieved with a quantitative balance betweennetwork duration and connectivity. For different endurance requirements, wefind that the optimal design can be separated into two categories: strongdependence of lifetime on node's degree leads to larger network lifetime, whileweak dependence generates stronger network connectivity. Our findings couldhelp network design, by providing a quantitative prediction of networkendurance based on network topology.