Complex Networks: A Networking and Signal Processing Perspective

Chapter 5Scale-Free Networks

Chapter 4 discussed small-world networks. This chapter looks into the scale-free characteristics that are prevalent in many real-world networks. In scale-free networks, certain nodes have an unprecedented number of connections, and those nodes are called hub nodes. Due to the presence of such hub nodes, degree distributions of those networks follow power-law pattern. This chapter presents the characteristics of scale-free networks and provides a set of real-world scale-free network examples and various network evolution models with scale-free characteristics. A list of open research problems is included at the end of the chapter.

5.1 Introduction

Nodes in a small-world network [64] are connected to each other by ...