An overlapping network is a virtual network that is built on top of another network. The nodes in the overlapping network are connected via virtual or logical connections. Each connection corresponds to a path, perhaps through many physical connections, in the core network. The topology of the overlapping network may (and often differs) from that of the basic one. For example, many peer-to-peer networks are overlapping networks. They are organized as nodes of a virtual link system running on the Internet. [27]
Overlapping networks have existed since the invention of
networks, when computer systems were connected by telephone lines using modems,
before any data network existed.
The most striking example of an overlapping network is the
Internet itself. The Internet itself was originally built as an overlay on the
telephone network. [27] Even today, each Internet node can communicate with
virtually any other through an underlying network of subnets of extremely
different topologies and technologies. Address resolution and routing are the
means of mapping an overlapping IP network fully connected to its core network.
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