Evolution of the Internet AS-level topology: From nodes and edges to components** Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61671142).

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Studying the topology of infrastructure communication networks (e.g., the Internet) has become a means to understand and develop complex systems. Therefore, investigating the evolution of Internet network topology might elucidate disciplines governing the dynamic process of complex systems. It may also contribute to a more intelligent communication network framework based on its autonomous behavior. In this paper, the Internet Autonomous Systems (ASes) topology from 1998 to 2013 was studied by deconstructing and analysing topological entities on three different scales (i.e., nodes, edges and 3 network components: single-edge component M1, binary component M2 and triangle component M3). The results indicate that: a) 95% of the Internet edges are internal edges (as opposed to external and boundary edges); b) the Internet network consists mainly of internal components, particularly M2 internal components; c) in most cases, a node initially connects with multiple nodes to form an M2 component to take part in the network; d) the Internet network evolves to lower entropy. Furthermore, we find that, as a complex system, the evolution of the Internet exhibits a behavioral series, which is similar to the biological phenomena concerned with the study on metabolism and replication. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of the evolution of the Internet network through analysis of dynamic features of its nodes, edges and components, and therefore our study represents an innovative approach to the subject.