Location of Central Nodes in Time Varying Computer Networks

Some computer and communication networks requir e the assignment of ce rtain nodes to perf orm specia l, network wide functions such as routing, monitoring etc. The natura l question that arises is which is the best network node to per form the function. This is the essenc e of the location problem. Resear ch in network loca tion problems conc entra ted on static environme nts, wher ea s many problems, in particular those rela ted to computer networ ks, are dynamic in nature . In this work we consider the single fac ility dynamic-ne twork location problem in a continuous domain of time. We first formulate the problem, make some gene ral observa tions, and then solve it for a discrete time domain. Ha ving bec ome ac quainted with the specificities of the problem we then off er a solution to the continuous time domain. Finally, a distributed version of the algorithm is outlined and discussed. Keywor ds: Networ ks, location, time-depe ndenc y. ____________________________________ † On leave from the Technion Israel Instit ute of Technology. This research was supported in part by the Foundation for Research in Electronics, Computers and Communications , Administered by the Israel Academy of Science and Humanities