Complex networks and social network analysis in information fusion

Abstract

Complex networks have recently emerged as an independent area of study. It has connections to random graph theory from mathematics as well as to social network analysis and recent work by physicists interested in understanding the behaviour of large, interacting networks. Network models are important for information fusion in two manners. First, the command and control networks of distributed information fusion systems must be designed in such a way that they are both robust against failures and attacks and so that information spreads quickly in them. Second, network models and social network analysis is an important tool to use when analyzing the opponents facing us in international operations. In this paper, we describe the basics of complex network models and point out how they can be used for both these purposes. By simulating several different network architectures, it will be possible to choose the best