Studies on the signal amplification in weighted and unweighted small-world networks

Abstract

Weighted and unweighted networks composed of coupled bistable oscillators with small-world topology are investigated under the co-presence of a weak signal and multiplicative Gaussian white noise. As the noise intensity is adjusted to one or two optimal values, the temporal periodicity of the output of the system reaches the maximum, indicating the occurrence of stochastic resonance (SR) or stochastic bi-resonance (SBR). The resonance behavior is strongly-dependent on the coupling strength in both networks. At a weak coupling, SR more likely takes place; whereas at a strong coupling, SBR is prone to occur. Compared with unweighted networks, the span of coupling strength for SBR is narrower in weighted networks. In addition, the weak signal cannot be amplified so effectively in the weighted networks as in the unweighted networks, attributing to the weakening effect of the link weight on the coupling between oscillators and the heterogeneity of the whole network connectivity caused by the weight distribution.