For instance, a (minimum) spanning tree is used as a backbone to reduce the cost of broadcast from O(m) to O(n), where m and n are the number of edges and vertices in the graph, respectively.
The main aim of topology control in this domain is to save energy, reduce interference between nodes and extend lifetime of the network.
However, recently the term has also been gaining traction with regards to control of the network structure of electric power systems.
Topology control has to be executed periodically in order to preserve the desired properties such as connectivity, coverage, density.
Then, periodically, wake up all inactive nodes, and change the current active reduced topology to the next, like in a Christmas tree.
[11] Atarraya is an event-driven simulator developed in Java that present a new framework for designing and testing topology control algorithms.