Demand-Aware Small-World Networks on Clustered Demands

Published: 2025, Last Modified: 28 Jan 2026OPODIS 2025EveryoneRevisionsBibTeXCC BY-SA 4.0
Abstract: Small-world networks are attractive for the efficient routing they provide, requiring only a low link density. They have hence also been considered for the design of distributed systems, such as peer-to-peer networks. However, existing small-world network designs are oblivious to the actual traffic they serve. In this paper, we initiate the study of demand-aware small-world networks. In particular, we extend the Kleinberg graph model, by allowing the nodes to choose the distribution of long-range links according to the traffic demand. We present a formal analysis of the weighted route lengths for the important case of clustered demands. We show both in theory and in simulations, using real-world traffic workloads, that demand-aware small-world graphs can significantly outperform their demand-oblivious counterparts.
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