On Component Connectivity of Hierarchical Star Networks

Abstract

For an integer [Formula: see text], the [Formula: see text]-component connectivity of a graph [Formula: see text], denoted by [Formula: see text], is the minimum number of vertices whose removal from [Formula: see text] results in a disconnected graph with at least [Formula: see text] components or a graph with fewer than [Formula: see text] vertices. This naturally generalizes the classical connectivity of graphs defined in term of the minimum vertex-cut. This kind of connectivity can help us to measure the robustness of the graph corresponding to a network. The hierarchical star networks [Formula: see text], proposed by Shi and Srimani, is a new level interconnection network topology, and uses the star graphs as building blocks. In this paper, by exploring the combinatorial properties and fault-tolerance of [Formula: see text], we study the [Formula: see text]-component connectivity of hierarchical star networks [Formula: see text]. We obtain the results: [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] for [Formula: see text].