Multicast: Concept, Problems, Routing Protocols, Algorithms and QoS Extensions

Abstract

The advancement in optical fiber and switching technologies has resulted in new generation high-speed networks that can achieve speeds of up to a few gigabits per second. Also, the progress in audio, video and data storage technologies has given rise to new distributed real-time applications. These applications may involve multimedia, which require low end-to-end delay. The applications’ requirements, such as the end-to-end delay, delay jitter, and loss rate, are expressed as QoS parameters that must be guaranteed. In addition, many of these new applications may involve multiple users, and hence the importance of multicast communication. In this chapter we discuss the basics of multicasting, its routing protocols and algorithms, along with different QoS-based multicast routing.