.mesh()

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We usually think of mesh as a type of tightly-woven fabric which distributes the load that it carries through many redundant pathways. A similar concept applies to communication networks, in which a signal may take multiple routes from its source to its destination. The benefit is that while multiple individual elements may fail, the overall system can continue to function.

In a computer science context, a mesh is a type of graph, and not the type that you may produce in Microsoft Excel. Instead, it is a collection of what is known as nodes and edges. In this case, the nodes are the black circles, and the edges are the lines connecting them.

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A more accessible way to understand this concept is to consider your own social circles, which probably looks a lot like a mesh network. You are directly connected to your first degree friends, and some of them may be connected to each other. At a larger scale, it is no coincidence that we use the expression “fabric of society”. This image expresses the redundant and diverse connections between individuals, and expresses the ability of the resulting organism to self-regulate and to compensate for individual weakness or struggle.

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Learn about communication mesh networks.

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