An estimation formula for the average path length of scale-free networks

A universal estimation formula for the average path length of scale free networks is given in this paper. Different from other estimation formulas, most of which use the size of network, N, as the only parameter, two parameters including N and a second parameter α are included in our formula. The parameter α is the power-law exponent, which represents the local connectivity property of a network. Because of this, the formula captures an important property that the local connectivity property at a microscopic level can determine the global connectivity of the whole network. The use of this new parameter distinguishes this approach from the other estimation formulas, and makes it a universal estimation formula, which can be applied to all types of scale-free networks. The conclusion is made that the small world feature is a derivative feature of a scale free network. If a network follows the power-law degree distribution, it must be a small world network. The power-law degree distribution property, while making the network economical, preserves the efficiency through this small world property when the network is scaled up. In other words, a real scale-free network is scaled at a relatively small cost and a relatively high efficiency, and that is the desirable result of self-organization optimization.

Immunization for scale-free networks by random walker

Based on the random walk and the intentional random walk, we propose two types of immunization strategies which require only local connectivity information. On several typical scale-free networks, we demonstrate that these strategies can lead to the eradication of the epidemic by immunizing a small fraction of the nodes in the networks. Particularly, the immunization strategy based on the intentional random walk is extremely efficient for the assortatively mixed networks.

Epidemic spreading in scale-free networks including the effect of individual vigilance

In this paper, we study the epidemic spreading in scale-flee networks and propose a new susceptible-infected- recovered （SIR） model that includes the effect of individual vigilance. In our model, the effective spreading rate is dynamically adjusted with the time evolution at the vigilance period. Using the mean-field theory, an analytical result is derived. It shows that individual vigilance has no effect on the epidemic threshold. The numerical simulations agree well with the analytical result. Purthermore, we investigate the effect of individual vigilance on the epidemic spreading speed. It is shown that individual vigilance can slow the epidemic spreading speed effectively and delay the arrival of peak epidemic infection.

Malicious Code Modeling and Analysis in Weighted Scale-Free Networks

We study the detailed malicious code propagating process in scale-free networks with link weights that denotes traffic between two nodes. It is found that the propagating velocity reaches a peak rapidly then decays in a power-law form, which is different from the well-known result in unweighted network case. Simulation results show that the nodes with larger strength are preferential to be infected, but the hierarchical dynamics are not clearly found. The simulation results also show that larger dispersion of weight of networks leads to slower propagating, which indicates that malicious code propagates more quickly in unweighted scale-free networks than in weighted scale-free networks under the same condition. These results show that not only the topology of networks but also the link weights affect the malicious propagating process.

Epidemic spreading on a scale-free network with awareness

This paper presents a modified susceptible-infected-recovered（SIR） model with the effects of awareness and vaccination to study the epidemic spreading on scale-free networks based on the mean-field theory.In this model,when susceptible individuals receive awareness from their infected neighbor nodes,they will take vaccination measures.The theoretical analysis and the numerical simulations show that the existence of awareness and vaccination can significantly improve the epidemic threshold and reduce the risk of virus outbreaks.In addition,regardless of the existence of vaccination,the awareness can increase the spreading threshold and slow the spreading speed effectively.For a given awareness and a certain spreading rate,the total number of infections reduces with the increasing vaccination rate.

Adaptive local routing strategy on a scale-free network

Due to the heterogeneity of the structure on a scale-free network, making the betweennesses of all nodes become homogeneous by reassigning the weights of nodes or edges is very difficult. In order to take advantage of the important effect of high degree nodes on the shortest path communication and preferentially deliver packets by them to increase the probability to destination, an adaptive local routing strategy on a scale-free network is proposed, in which the node adjusts the forwarding probability with the dynamical traffic load （packet queue length） and the degree distribution of neighbouring nodes. The critical queue length of a node is set to be proportional to its degree, and the node with high degree has a larger critical queue length to store and forward more packets. When the queue length of a high degree node is shorter than its critical queue length, it has a higher probability to forward packets. After higher degree nodes are saturated （whose queue lengths are longer than their critical queue lengths）, more packets will be delivered by the lower degree nodes around them. The adaptive local routing strategy increases the probability of a packet finding its destination quickly, and improves the transmission capacity on the scale-free network by reducing routing hops. The simulation results show that the transmission capacity of the adaptive local routing strategy is larger than that of three previous local routing strategies.

Effects of channel noise on synchronization transitions in delayed scale-free network of stochastic Hodgkin–Huxley neurons

We numerically study the effect of the channel noise on the spiking synchronization of a scale-free Hodgkin-Huxley neuron network with time delays. It is found that the time delay can induce synchronization transitions at an intermediate and proper channel noise intensity, and the synchronization transitions become strongest when the channel noise intensity is optimal. The neurons can also exhibit synchronization transitions as the channel noise intensity is varied, and this phenomenon is enhanced at around the time delays that can induce the synchronization transitions. It is also found that the synchronization transitions induced by the channel noise are dependent on the coupling strength and the network average degree, and there is an optimal coupling strength or network average degree with which the synchronization transitions become strongest. These results show that by inducing synchronization transitions, the channel noise has a big regulation effect on the synchronization of the neuronal network. These findings could find potential implications for the information transmission in neural systems.

Generalized minimum information path routing strategy on scale-free networks

This paper presents a new routing strategy by introducing a tunable parameter into the minimum information path routing strategy we proposed previously. It is found that network transmission capacity can be considerably enhanced by adjusting the parameter with various allocations of node capability for packet delivery. Moreover, the proposed routing strategy provides a traffic load distribution which can better match the allocation of node capability than that of traditional efficient routing strategies, leading to a network with improved transmission performance. This routing strategy, without deviating from the shortest-path routing strategy in the length of paths too much, produces improved performance indexes such as critical generating rate, average length of paths and average search information.

Enhancement of scale-free network attack tolerance

Despite the large size of most communication and transportation systems, there are short paths between nodes in these networks which guarantee the efficient information, data and passenger delivery; furthermore these networks have a surprising tolerance under random errors thanks to their inherent scale-free topology. However, their scale-free topology also makes them fragile under intentional attacks, leaving us a challenge on how to improve the network robustness against intentional attacks without losing their strong tolerance under random errors and high message and passenger delivering capacity. Here We propose two methods （SL method and SH method） to enhance scale-free network＇s tolerance under attack in different conditions.

Modelling the spread of sexually transmitted diseases on scale-free networks

In this paper a new model for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases （STDs） is presented. The dynamic behaviors of the model on a heterogenons scale-free （SF） network are considered, where the absence of a threshold on the SF network is demonstrated, and the stability of the disease-free equilibrium is obtained. Three immunization strategies, uniform immunization, proportional immunization and targeted immunization, are applied in this model. Analytical and simulated results are given to show that the proportional immunization strategy in the model is effective on SF networks.

Convergence speed of consensus problems over undirected scale-free networks

Scale-free networks and consensus behaviour among multiple agents have both attracted much attention. To investigate the consensus speed over scale-free networks is the major topic of the present work. A novel method is developed to construct scale-free networks due to their remarkable power-law degree distributions, while preserving the diversity of network topologies. The time cost or iterations for networks to reach a certain level of consensus is discussed, considering the influence from power-law parameters. They are both demonstrated to be reversed power-law functions of the algebraic connectivity, which is viewed as a measurement on convergence speed of the consensus behaviour. The attempts of tuning power-law parameters may speed up the consensus procedure, but it could also make the network less robust over time delay at the same time. Large scale of simulations are supportive to the conclusions.

Study on the phase transition of the fractal scale-free networks

Based on the Ising spin, the phase transition on fractal scale-free networks with tree-like skeletons is studied, where the loops are generated by local links. The degree distribution of the tree-like skeleton satisfies the power-law form P（k）～ k^-δ.It is found that when δ≥3, the renormalized scale-free network will have the same degree distribution as the original network. For a special case of δ = 4.5, a ferromagnetic to paramagnetic transition is found and the critical temperature is determined by the box-covering renormalization method. By keeping the structure of the fractal scale-free network constant, the numerical relationship between the critical temperature and the network size is found, which is the form of power law.

Improving consensual performance of multi-agent systems in weighted scale-free networks

This paper studies consensus problems in weighted scale-free networks of asymmetrically coupled dynamical units, where the asymmetry in a given link is deter：mined by the relative degree of the involved nodes. It shows that the asymmetry of interactions has a great effect on the consensus. Especially, when the interactions are dominant from higher- to lower-degree nodes, both the convergence speed and the robustness to communication delay are enhanced.

Random walk immunization strategy on scale-free networks

A novel immunization strategy called the random walk immunization strategy on scale-free networks is proposed. Different from other known immunization strategies, this strategy works as follows： a node is randomly chosen from the network. Starting from this node, randomly walk to one of its neighbor node; if the present node is not immunized, then immunize it and continue the random walk; otherwise go back to the previous node and randomly walk again. This process is repeated until a certain fraction of nodes is immunized. By theoretical analysis and numerical simulations, we found that this strategy is very effective in comparison with the other known immunization strategies.

Integrated systemic inflammatory response syndrome epidemic model in scale-free networks

Based on the scale-free network, an integrated systemic inflammatory response syndrome model with artificial immunity, a feedback mechanism, crowd density and the moving activities of an individual can be built. The effects of these factors on the spreading process are investigated through the model. The research results show that the artificial immunity can reduce the stable infection ratio and enhance the spreading threshold of the system. The feedback mechanism can only reduce the stable infection ratio of system, but cannot affect the spreading threshold of the system. The bigger the crowd density is, the higher the infection ratio of the system is and the smaller the spreading threshold is. In addition, the simulations show that the individual movement can enhance the stable infection ratio of the system only under the condition that the spreading rate is high, however, individual movement will reduce the stable infection ratio of the system.

The Analysis of an SIRS Epidemic Model with Discrete Delay on Scale-Free Network

A new epidemic SIRS model with discrete delay on scale-free network is presented. We give the formula of the basic reproductive number for the model and prove that the disease dies out when the basic reproductive number is less than unity, while the disease is uniformly persistent when the basic reproductive number is more than unity. Numerical simulations are given to demonstrate the main results.

Cascading failure in the wireless sensor scale-free networks

In the practical wireless sensor networks （WSNs）, the cascading failure caused by a failure node has serious impact on the network performance. In this paper, we deeply research the cascading failure of scale-free topology in WSNs. Firstly, a cascading failure model for scale-free topology in WSNs is studied. Through analyzing the influence of the node load on cascading failure, the critical load triggering large-scale cascading failure is obtained. Then based on the critical load, a control method for cascading failure is presented. In addition, the simulation experiments are performed to validate the effectiveness of the control method. The results show that the control method can effectively prevent cascading failure.

Global forward-predicting dynamic routing for traffic concurrency space stereo multi-layer scale-free network

Many real communication networks, such as oceanic monitoring network and land environment observation network,can be described as space stereo multi-layer structure, and the traffic in these networks is concurrent. Understanding how traffic dynamics depend on these real communication networks and finding an effective routing strategy that can fit the circumstance of traffic concurrency and enhance the network performance are necessary. In this light, we propose a traffic model for space stereo multi-layer complex network and introduce two kinds of global forward-predicting dynamic routing strategies, global forward-predicting hybrid minimum queue（HMQ） routing strategy and global forward-predicting hybrid minimum degree and queue（HMDQ） routing strategy, for traffic concurrency space stereo multi-layer scale-free networks. By applying forward-predicting strategy, the proposed routing strategies achieve better performances in traffic concurrency space stereo multi-layer scale-free networks. Compared with the efficient routing strategy and global dynamic routing strategy, HMDQ and HMQ routing strategies can optimize the traffic distribution, alleviate the number of congested packets effectively and reach much higher network capacity.

Mobile user forecast and power-law acceleration invariance of scale-free networks

This paper studies and predicts the number growth of China＇s mobile users by using the power-law regression. We find that the number growth of the mobile users follows a power law. Motivated by the data on the evolution of the mobile users, we consider scenarios of self-organization of accelerating growth networks into scale-free structures and propose a directed network model, in which the nodes grow following a power-law acceleration. The expressions for the transient and the stationary average degree distributions are obtained by using the Poisson process. This result shows that the model generates appropriate power-law connectivity distributions. Therefore, we find a power-law acceleration invariance of the scale-free networks. The numerical simulations of the models agree with the analytical results well.

A Novel Neighbor-Preferential Growth Scale-Free Network Model and its Properties

In this paper, we propose a novel neighbor-preferential growth (NPG) network model. Theoretical analysis and numerical simulations indicate the new model can reproduce not only a scale-free degree distribution and its power exponent is related to the edge-adding number m, but also a small-world effect which has large clustering coefficient and small average path length. Interestingly, the clustering coefficient of the model is close to that of globally coupled network, and the average path length is close to that of star coupled network. Meanwhile, the synchronizability of the NPG model is much stronger than that of BA scale-free network, even stronger than that of synchronization-optimal growth network.