Easily repairable networks

Abstract

We introduce a simple class of distribution networks which withstand damage by being repairable instead of redundant. We prove a lower bound for the expected cost of repair, and show that for networks on the square and triangular lattice, this bound is achievable and results in a network with exactly three levels of structural hierarchy. We extend our results to networks subject to repeated attacks, in which the repairs themselves must be repairable. We find that, in exchange for a modest increase in repair cost, such networks are able to withstand any number of attacks.