The study of interdependent networks from the perspective of vulnerability seeks to identify the critical elements with respect to a variety of measures. An interdependent system is robust if external perturbations do not significantly impair the functionality of the system. In this area, we seek to design methods to identify the critical elements. One measure we study in general interdependent networks is the vulnerability of network clustering to node failure. We also study measures in practical scenarios, one scenario is in a Smart Grid system, how the interdependent communication and power networks impact one another’s functionality — a failure in one of these networks may cascade to the other. Another scenario is in mobile social networks underlay a D2D network, where misinformation in the social network may cascade and cause users stop using D2D, thus impact the throughput of the D2D network.

Objectives:

• Characterize robustness using a variety of measures of functionality
• Study interdependency effects relevant to vulnerability, such as cascading failure
• Identify critical elements in the functionality of interdependent systems

Selected Publications:

• D. T. Nguyen, Y. Shen, and M. T. Thai. “Detecting Critical Nodes in Interdependent Power Networks for Vulnerability Assessment,” in IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid (ToSG), 2013