Impact of node dynamics parameters on topology identification of complex dynamical networks

This paper aims at investigating the topology identification problem of complex dynamical networks with varying node dynamics parameters and fixed inner coupling matrices. In particular, by employing the unified chaotic system as node dynamics, this work further explores the influence of continuously changing node dynamics parameters on topology identification of complex dynamical networks with different coupling strengths. Results show that for sufficiently small or large coupling strengths, the performance of topology identification is not affected by the change of node parameters. Specifically, for small enough coupling strengths, the topological structure can be completely identified regardless of the change of node parameters, while for sufficiently large coupling strengths, the connectivity (presence and absence of connections) cannot be successfully identified. Furthermore, for certain coupling strengths, with the increase of node dynamics parameters, the topology identification varies from completely unidentifiable to partially or event completely identifiable. Therefore, the synchronization-based topology identification depends on node dynamics. Even for the same node dynamical model, different parameters can have a significant impact on identification results. Furthermore, for networks consisting of chaotic oscillators defining node dynamics, small coupling strengths are conducive to topology identification. A broader conclusion is that projective synchronization, rather than just complete synchronization, is an obstacle to the network topology identification. The findings in this paper will add to our understanding of conditions for identifying topologies of complex networks.