Creative Networking Workshop at ITU, 2007
01 Introduction to Networks
Graph Theory, basic terminology, and networks in the real world.
Exercise 01: Find three networks in your daily life, draw their diagrams on a paper illustrating the nodes and the connections.
02 Network Topologies
Centralized – All nodes connect to a single node, a hub. e.g., Panoptican prison, monarchy, supreme court.
Decentralized – Multiple centralized networks, many hubs. e.g., Airlines, postal system, power grid.
Distributed – Mesh networks, no central hubs. Eg. Fish net, lattice, highway.
Fully Connected – Every node connects to every other node. e.g., 11 members of a soccer team.
Exercise 02: Draw three different types of networks –centralized, decentralized, and distributed. Layout your diagrams carefully focusing on the topography of your network.
03 Static vs. Dynamic Networks
Static networks – No change in the connections or nodes.
Dynamic networks – Connections change over time. It may get stronger or it may break. Even the nodes themselves may change. Eg. Self organizing insects, distributed dissent, infectious disease. Examples of changes in the node: political belief, change in the environment, mutations in a virus. Examples of changes in the edge: joining a cause, emergence of tasks, modes of transmission.
Exercise 03: Design a new dynamic network using one of your earlier diagrams. Define the weights of the connections. Describe the possible the spatial/temporal changes in the connections and nodes.