Information flows in complex networks

Abstract

We give an overview on some of the main results in network information theory, that is the branch of Shannon theory that deals with the fundamental limits of information flow in complex networks. Particular emphasis is given to the fact that classical information-theoretic arguments, which yield the capacity of point-to-point channels, and standard network flow techniques, which are suitable for transport networks, do not necessarily apply when it comes to describing the behavior of information flows over complex networks that feature phenomena such as interference, cooperation or feedback. Notwithstanding this observation, we provide examples of information flow problems where max-flow min-cut type of arguments do prove useful for establishing performance bounds for complex networks and illustrate how mixing different flows through network coding may hold the key towards achieving those bounds. © 2009 Springer US.