  Quantum information processing protocols are efficiently implemented on
spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ networks. A quantum communication protocol generally
involves a certain number of parties having local access to a subset of a
larger system, whose intrinsic dynamics are exploited in order to perform a
specific task. In this chapter, we address such a scenario with the quantum
dynamical map formalism, where the dynamics of the larger system is expressed
as a quantum map acting on the parties' access to their respective subsets of
spins. We reformulate widely investigated protocols, such as one-qubit quantum
state transfer and two-qubit entanglement distribution, with the quantum map
formalism and demonstrate its usefulness in exploring less investigated
protocols such as multi-qubit entanglement generation.
