Complex network approach to communication network performance analysis

In this paper we study the performance of communication networks from a network science perspective. We consider in particular the effects of the choice of routing algorithms and the kind of network topology on selected areas of performance, and we also study the vulnerability of the networks when subject to selected attack strategies. Contrary to intuition, our results reveal that the removal of a certain number of high-degree nodes in a scale-free network with shortest path routing does not necessarily worsen the overall network performance. Moreover, the scale-free network can perform better when high-degree nodes are coordinated to provide exclusive service to a specific group of nodes.