Interdisciplinary Seminar Series


Title: The Large Scale Curvature of Networks and its Implications for Network Management and Security

Speaker: Iraj Saniee, Mathematics of Networks and Communications Department, Bell Laboratories, Alcatel-Lucent

Date: Monday, March 21, 2011 12:00 - 1:00 pm

Location: DIMACS Center, CoRE Bldg, Room 431, Rutgers University, Busch Campus, Piscataway, NJ


Abstract:

Understanding key structural properties of large-scale networks is critical for analyzing and optimizing their performance, improving their reliability and security. In this talk we show that these networks may possess a previously unnoticed feature, global curvature, which we argue has a critical impact on core congestion: the load at the core of a network with N nodes scales as O(N^2) as compared to O(N^1.5) for a flat network. We substantiate this claim through analysis of a collection of IP-layer data networks across the globe as measured and documented by previous researchers. We further show that the observed scaling is intrinsic to the geometry and metric properties of these networks with clear implications for network management and security. We conclude with a preliminary classification of large-scale networks that we believe better describes the structure of complex networks than those currently used within the research community. This is joint work with Onuttom Narayan, University of California, Santa Cruz.


DIMACS/CCICADA Interdisciplinary Seminar Series, Spring 2011