General Dynamics of Topology and Traffic on Weighted Technological Networks

For most technical networks, the interplay of dynamics, traffic, and topology is assumed crucial to their evolution. In this Letter, we propose a traffic-driven evolution model of weighted technological networks. By introducing a general strength-coupling mechanism under which the traffic and topology mutually interact, the model gives power-law distributions of degree, weight, and strength, as confirmed in many real networks. Particularly, depending on a parameter $W$ that controls the total weight growth of the system, the nontrivial clustering coefficient $C$, degree assortativity coefficient $r$, and degree-strength correlation are all consistent with empirical evidence.