Algorithms for delay constrained group multicast routing

Multicast routing allows network sources to use network resources efficiently by sending only a single copy of data to all group members. In the delay constrained group multicast routing problem (DCGMRP), every group member is also a source, and has an individual minimal delay and bandwidth requirement. The routing algorithm must, for each member of the group, construct a source‐based routing tree spanning all the other member nodes without exceeding the capacities of the traversed links, while satisfying the stated delay constraints. Previous work adopted the direct, intuitive approach by first creating a source‐based multicast tree independently for each member node, and then iteratively locating network links whose capacity constraint are violated and eliminating the violation by rerouting the trees. In this paper, we investigate a number of efficient and effective algorithms, DCGM _ IA ⁺, DCGM _ GR and DCGM _ CP , for solving DCGMRP and compare their performance with previous proposals. Through extensive experiments, our proposals are shown to outperform previous algorithms in constructing group multicast trees with low costs and high success ratios. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Distributed multicast multichannel paths

Supporting multimedia applications in QoS-aware multicast deployment has become an important research dimension in recent years. Future communication networks will face an increase in traffic driven by multimedia applications with stringent requirements in the following important functions: (1) nodes and links used distributing, (2) packets duplication distributing, (3) QoS supporting, (4) multichannel routing. For improving these four functions, in this paper we propose a new polynomial time algorithm, named Nodes Links Distributed-Multicast Multichannel Routing (NLD-MMR), based on the Constraint-Based Routing (CBR) and Linear Programming (LP). The new algorithm by constructing Distributed Multicast Multichannel Paths (DMMCP) can distribute or compact both paths and traffic. Our simulation study shows that the proposed algorithm, as compared to other available algorithms, performs well and constructs a new generation of optimal paths with the best cost and efficiency.     

QoS multicast routing by using multiple paths/trees in wireless ad hoc networks

In this paper, we investigate the issues of QoS multicast routing in wireless ad hoc networks. Due to limited bandwidth of a wireless node, a QoS multicast call could often be blocked if there does not exist a single multicast tree that has the requested bandwidth, even though there is enough bandwidth in the system to support the call. In this paper, we propose a new multicast routing scheme by using multiple paths or multiple trees to meet the bandwidth requirement of a call. Three multicast routing strategies are studied, SPT (shortest path tree) based multiple-paths (SPTM), least cost tree based multiple-paths (LCTM) and multiple least cost trees (MLCT). The final routing tree(s) can meet the user’s QoS requirements such that the delay from the source to any destination node shall not exceed the required bound and the aggregate bandwidth of the paths or trees shall meet the bandwidth requirement of the call. Extensive simulations have been conducted to evaluate the performance of our three multicast routing strategies. The simulation results show that the new scheme improves the call success ratio and makes a better use of network resources.     

Algorithms for computing QoS paths with restoration

There is a growing interest among service providers to offer new services with Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees that are also resilient to failures. Supporting QoS connections requires the existence of a routing mechanism, that computes the QoS paths, i.e., paths that satisfy QoS constraints (e.g., delay or bandwidth). Resilience to failures, on the other hand, is achieved by providing, for each primary QoS path, a set of alternative QoS paths used upon a failure of either a link or a node. The above objectives, coupled with the need to minimize the global use of network resources, imply that the cost of both the primary path and the restoration topology should be a major consideration of the routing process. We undertake a comprehensive study of problems related to finding suitable restoration topologies for QoS paths. We consider both bottleneck QoS constraints, such as bandwidth, and additive QoS constraints, such as delay and jitter. This is the first study to provide a rigorous solution, with proven guarantees, to the combined problem of computing QoS paths with restoration. It turns out that the widely used approach of disjoint primary and restoration paths is not an optimal strategy. Hence, the proposed algorithms construct a restoration topology , i.e., a set of bridges, each bridge protecting a portion of the primary QoS path. This approach guarantees to find a restoration topology with low cost when one exists.     

On properties of multicast routing trees

In the last several years we witnessed the proliferation of multimedia applications on the Internet. One of the unavoidable techniques to support this type of communication is multicasting. However, even a decade after its initial proposal, multicast is still not widely deployed. One of the reasons is the lack of a solid business model. If the gain and the cost of multicast could be predicted, network operators might be encouraged to deploy multicast on a larger scale. In this paper we propose analytical expressions that could be used to estimate the gain of network‐layer multicast. We show that the theoretical model matches extensive simulation and Internet measurement results remarkably well. Furthermore, we examine the reliability of traceroute data and of traceroutes‐based conclusions. We investigate the node degree distributions in the Internet maps obtained from CAIDA and RIPE and we show the divergency of our results with those obtained by other researchers. We further focus on the analysis of multicast trees based on traceroute data. Only few results have been available on the node degree distribution of multicast routing trees which provided contradictory conclusions. Our results seem to indicate that the node degrees follow power laws only for a large number of multicast users. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bottleneck multicast trees in linear time

On a directed graph with arc costs and a given source node, s, we consider the problem of computing multicast (Steiner) trees spanning any given node subset, V, so that the maximum of the tree arc costs is minimized. We show that this problem can be solved by simply solving the bottleneck path problem, i.e., the problem of determining for each node, t/spl ne/s, a path from s to t so that the maximum of path arc costs is minimized. For the latter problem we provide an implementation of Dijkstra's algorithm that runs in linear time under mild assumptions on arc costs.     

On the topology of multicast trees

The benefit derived from using multicast is seemingly dependent upon the shape of the distribution tree. We attempt to model interdomain multicast trees accurately. We measure a number of key parameters, such as depth, degree frequency, and average degree, for a number of real and synthetic data sets. We find that interdomain multicast trees actually do share a common shape at both the router and autonomous system levels. Furthermore, we develop a characterization of multicast efficiency which reveals that group sizes as small as 20 to 40 receivers offer a 55%-70% reduction in the total number of links traversed when compared to separately delivered unicast streams. A final contribution of our work consists in a number of data sets, compiled from multicast group membership and path data, that can be used to generate large sample trees, representative of the current multicast infrastructure.     

Restricted dynamic Steiner trees for scalable multicast in datagramnetworks

The paper addresses the issue of minimizing the number of nodes involved in routing over a multicast tree and in the maintenance of such a tree in a datagram network. It presents a scheme where the tree routing and maintenance burden is laid only upon the source node and the destination nodes associated with the multicast tree. The main concept behind this scheme is to view each multicast tree as a collection of unicast paths and to locate only the multicast source and destination nodes on the junctions of their multicast tree. The paper shows that despite this restriction, the cost of the created multicast trees is not necessarily higher than the cost of the trees created by other algorithms that do not impose the restriction and therefore require all nodes along the data path of a tree to participate in routing over the tree and in the maintenance of the tree     

Algorithms for multicast traffic grooming in WDM mesh networks

Several of the new applications in high-performance networks are of the multicast traffic type. Since such networks employ an optical network infrastructure, and since most of these applications require subwavelength bandwidth, several streams are usually groomed on the same wavelength. This article presents an account of recent advances in the design of optical networks for multicast traffic grooming in WDM mesh networks. The article addresses network design and session provisioning under both static and dynamic multicast traffic. Under static traffic conditions, the objective is to accommodate a given set of multicast traffic demands, while minimizing the implementation cost. Optimal and heuristic solution techniques for mesh network topologies are presented. Under dynamic traffic conditions, techniques for dynamic routing and session provisioning of multicast sessions whose objective is to minimize session blocking probabilities are explained. The article also presents a number of open research issues     

Two algorithms for multi‐constrained optimal multicast routing

Multimedia applications, such as video‐conferencing and video‐on‐demand, often require quality of service (QoS) guarantees from the network, typically in the form of minimum bandwidth, maximum delay, jitter and packet loss constraints, among others. The problem of multicast routing subject to various forms of QoS constraints has been studied extensively. However, most previous efforts have focused on special situations where a single or a pair of constraints is considered. In general, routing under multiple constraints, even in the unicast case is an NP‐complete problem. We present in this paper two practical and efficient algorithms, called multi‐constrained QoS dependent multicast routing (M_QDMR) and (multicasting routing with multi‐constrained optimal path selection (M_MCOP)), for QoS‐based multicast routing under multiple constraints with cost optimization. We provide proof in the paper that our algorithms are correct. Furthermore, through extensive simulations, we illustrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposals and demonstrate their significant performance improvement in creating multicast trees with lower cost and higher success probability. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On multicast trees: structure and size estimation

This work presents a thorough investigation of the structure of multicast trees cut from the Internet and power-law topologies. Based on both generated topologies and real Internet data, we characterize the structure of such trees and show that they obey the rank-degree power law; that most high degree tree nodes are concentrated in a low diameter neighborhood; and that the sub-tree size also obeys a power law. Our most surprising empirical finding suggests that there is a linear ratio between the number of high degree network nodes, namely nodes whose tree degree is higher than some constant, and the number of leaf nodes in the multicast tree (clients). We also derive this ratio analytically. Based on this finding, we develop the Fast Algorithm, that estimates the number of clients, and show that it converges faster than one round trip delay from the root to a randomly selected client.     

Bandwidth-satisfied multicast trees in large-scale ad-hoc networks

The purpose of this paper is to construct bandwidth-satisfied multicast trees for QoS applications in large-scale ad-hoc networks (MANETs). Recent routing protocols and multicast protocols in large-scale MANETs adopt two-tier infrastructures to avoid the inefficiency of the flooding. Hosts with a maximal number of neighbors are often chosen as backbone hosts (BHs) to forward packets. Most likely, these BHs will be traffic concentrations/bottlenecks of the network. In addition, since host mobility is not taken into consideration in BH selection, these two-tier schemes will suffer from more lost packets if highly mobile hosts are selected as BHs. In this paper, a new multicast protocol is proposed for partitioning large-scale MANET into two-tier infrastructures. In the proposed two-tier multicast protocol, hosts with fewer hops and longer remaining connection time to the other hosts will be selected as BHs. The objective is not only to obtain short and stable multicast routes, but also to construct a stable two-tier infrastructure with fewer lost packets. Further, previous MANET quality-of-service (QoS) routing/multicasting protocols determined bandwidth-satisfied routes for QoS applications. Some are implemented as a probing scheme, but the scheme is inefficient due to high overhead and slow response. On the contrary, the others are implemented by taking advantage of routing and link information to reduce the inefficiency. However, the latter scheme suffers from two bandwidth-violation problems. In this paper, a novel algorithm is proposed to avoid the two problems, and it is integrated with the proposed two-tier multicast protocol to construct bandwidth-satisfied multicast trees for QoS applications in large-scale MANETs. The proposed algorithm aims to achieve better network performance by minimizing the number of forwarders in a tree.     

A rearrangeable algorithm for the construction of delay-constraineddynamic multicast trees

With the proliferation of multimedia group applications, the construction of multicast trees satisfying quality of service (QoS) requirements is becoming a problem of prime importance. Many of the multicast applications (such as video broadcasts and teleconferencing) require the network to support dynamic multicast sessions wherein the membership of the multicast group changes with time. In this paper, we propose and evaluate an algorithm called CRCDM (controlled rearrangement for constrained dynamic multicasting) for on-line update of multicast trees to adjust to changes in group membership. The CRCDM algorithm is based on a concept called quality factor (QF) that represents the usefulness of a portion of the multicast tree to the overall multicast session. When the usefulness of a particular region of the tree drops below a threshold, a rearrangement technique is used to suitably modify the tree. Our algorithm aims to satisfy the delay constraints of all current group members, at the same time minimizing the cost of the constructed tree. We compare the performance of our algorithm, by simulation, with that of an off-line Steiner heuristic; with ARIES, a previously published algorithm for on-line update of unconstrained trees; and with the algorithm proposed by Hong, Lee and Park (see Proc. IEEE INFOCOM, p.1433-40, 1998) for on-line update of delay-constrained trees. The simulation results indicate that our algorithm provides excellent cost-competitiveness that is better than that provided by the algorithm described by Hong et al., minimizes changes in the multicast tree after each update, and performs favorably even when compared with the unconstrained ARIES heuristic     

A scalable multicast routing protocol for building shortest path trees

Scalability is a great concern in the design of multicast routing protocols for the global Internet. Building shortest path trees (SPT) is currently one of the most widely used approaches to supporting multicast routing because of the simplicity and low per‐destination cost of such trees. However, the construction of an SPT typically involves high protocol overhead, which leads to the scalability problem as the number of concurrent multicast sessions increases. In this paper, we present a destination‐initiated shortest path tree (DSPT) routing protocol. The design objective is to effectively reduce the protocol overhead associated with SPT constructions for providing scalable multicast. To achieve this objective, we introduce destination‐initiated joining operations in constructing SPTs. With DSPT, each router receiving a request to join a specific multicast group makes a local decision on selecting its parent node through which it connects to the existing tree. A source‐rooted SPT is built as a result of such collaborative operations at nodes. DSPT requires only limited routing information at routers. Analytical results demonstrate that DSPT scales well with respect to computation, storage and communication overhead when the number of concurrent multicast requests is large. Simulation experiments are also conducted to verify the correctness of the theoretically deduced analytical results. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A new delay‐constrained algorithm for multicast routing tree construction

New multimedia applications provide guaranteed end‐to‐end quality of service (QoS) and have stringent constraints on delay, delay‐jitter, bandwidth, cost, etc. The main task of QoS routing is to find a route in the network, with sufficient resources to satisfy the constraints. Most multicast routing algorithms are not fast enough for large‐scale networks and where the source node uses global cost information to construct a multicast tree. We propose a fast and simple heuristic algorithm (EPDT) for delay‐constrained routing problem for multicast tree construction. This algorithm uses a greedy strategy based on shortest‐path and minimal spanning trees. It combines the minimum cost and the minimum radius objectives by combining respectively optimal Prim's and Dijkstra's algorithms. It biases routes through destinations. Besides, it uses cost information only from neighbouring nodes as it proceeds, which makes it more practical, from an implementation point of view. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Efficient network coding techniques for time constrained multicast narrowband power line communications

Nowadays, power line communication (PLC) technology is receiving a renewed attention in many application fields. In particular, PLC is quite attractive for what concerns novel paradigms as smart microgrid systems and smart buildings. This paper deals with a proposal of a PLC scheme that efficiently allows multicast services based on the use of an efficient network coding (NC) scheme. Furthermore, an analytical approach is outlined to pursue the performance optimization of the proposed solution. Finally, the good behavior of the proposed NC approach is highlighted by presenting performance comparisons with the classical NC alternative.     

基于路径备用机制的应用层多播树重构方法

首先,将前向式树重构策略扩展应用于基于Chord的结构型多播树,提出了路径备用机制,该机制为多播树中每个节点预先寻找一条用于快速恢复与多播树连接的备用路径.接着,以路径备用机制为基础,进一步设计基于Chord的应用层多播协议ChordM-FR.仿真结果表明,ChordM-FR协议的多播树重构速度比采用后向式树重构策略的ChordM-SR协议平均快大约2.5倍.     

A novel framework of online network coding for multicast switches with constrained buffers

Network coding is able to address output conflicts when fanout splitting is allowed for multicast switching. Hence, it successfully achieves a larger rate region than non-coding approaches in crossbar switches. However, network coding requires large coding buffers and a high computational cost on encoding and decoding. In this paper, we propose a novel Online Network Coding framework called Online NC for multicast switches, which is adaptive to constrained buffers. Moreover, it enjoys a much lower decoding complexity O(n ²) by a Vandermonde matrix based approach, as compared to conventional randomized network coding O(n ³). Our approach realizes online coding with one coding algorithm that synchronizes buffering and coding. Therefore, we significantly reduce requirements on buffer space, while also sustaining high throughputs. We confirm the superior advantages of our contributions using empirical studies.     

一种时延受限的低代价移动IP组播路由算法

基于固定和移动IP混合网络，针对时延敏感的实时通信业务，建立了网络模型，提出了有时延约束的低代价组播路由问题，给出了一种分布启发式组播路由算法，证明了算法的正确性，分析了算法的复杂度。仿真结果表明，算法是有效的、稳定的。     

Optimal multicast trees in communication systems with channelcapacities and channel reliabilities

Given a source node and a set of destination nodes in a communication system in which there is associated with each channel a channel capacity and a channel reliability, an efficient algorithm is developed for computing a multicast tree which maximizes the capacity with reliability not less than a given threshold