Guaranteeing global synchronization in networks with stochastic interactions

We design the interactions between oscillators communicating via variably delayed pulse coupling to guarantee their synchronization on arbitrary network topologies. We identify a class of response functions and prove convergence to network-wide synchrony from arbitrary initial conditions. Synchrony is achieved if the pulse emission is unreliable or intentionally probabilistic. These results support the design of scalable, reliable and energyefficient communication protocols for fully distributed synchronization as needed, e.g., in mobile phone networks, embedded systems, sensor networks and autonomously interacting swarm robots. 3 Author to whom any correspondence should be addressed. New Journal of Physics 14 (2012) 073031 1367-2630/12/073031+13$33.00 © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft