title: Error-correcting codes on scale-free networks.
abstract: We investigate the potential of scale-free networks as error-correcting codes. We find that irregular low-density parity-check codes with the highest performance known to date have degree distributions well fitted by a power-law function p (k) approximately k(-gamma) with gamma close to 2, which suggests that codes built on scale-free networks with appropriate power exponents can be good error-correcting codes, with a performance possibly approaching the Shannon limit. We demonstrate for an erasure channel that codes with a power-law degree distribution of the form p (k) = C (k+alpha)(-gamma), with k> or =2 and suitable selection of the parameters alpha and gamma, indeed have very good error-correction capabilities.
authors.affiliation: Future Technology Research Division, Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, Daejeon 305-350, Korea.
authors.forename: Jung-Hoon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young-Jo
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Ko