Local versus Global Search in Channel Graphs

TL;DR

This paper compares local and global search strategies in channel graphs, revealing that local search can require exponentially more probes on average than global search in certain graph structures.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of local search in channel graphs and demonstrates its significant difference in efficiency compared to global search.

Findings

Local search can require exponentially more probes than global search.

Some well-known channel graphs exhibit this exponential difference.

The study highlights the importance of search strategy choice in network analysis.

Abstract

Previous studies of search in channel graphs has assumed that the search is global; that is, that the status of any link can be probed by the search algorithm at any time. We consider for the first time local search, for which only links to which an idle path from the source has already been established may be probed. We show that some well known channel graphs may require exponentially more probes, on the average, when search must be local than when it may be global.