The Structure of Interactions--an Exploratory Study of the Organization of Networks

The engineering of telecommunications networks proceeds from an estimate of potentially offered loads in the descriptive form of input-output tables, through a functional design stage, to the redevelopment of inadequate existing facilities or, occasionally, the implementation of entirely new ones. Networks are, by definition, highly structured entities. Thus, the intermediate stage in the engineering process is one of analysis of demand statements for embedded but not directly evident structure. This paper introduces a gross measure of organization or structure, then describes an arithmetic procedure for the detection of structural pattern in interaction systems. It concludes with illustrative examples and a program for further research. While the problem examined here is framed in the telecommunications environment, the argument is not particular to communications and may, therefore, bear on social, transportation and like interaction systems. Since organizations are control systems characterized by their information flows, these can be studied as information networks.