Critical load and congestion instabilities in scale-free networks

TL;DR

This paper investigates how scale-free networks respond to congestion failures, identifying a critical load threshold beyond which large-scale failures become likely, highlighting vulnerabilities in network resilience.

Contribution

It introduces a critical load threshold for congestion failures in scale-free networks and analyzes the cascade effects leading to network disconnection.

Findings

Existence of a finite critical traffic load for network failure

Failure cascades can isolate large network parts

Scale-free topology influences failure dynamics

Abstract

We study the tolerance to congestion failures in communication networks with scale-free topology. The traffic load carried by each damaged element in the network must be partly or totally redistributed among the remaining elements. Overloaded elements might fail on their turn, triggering the occurrence of failure cascades able to isolate large parts of the network. We find a critical traffic load above which the probability of massive traffic congestions destroying the network communication capabilities is finite.