Generic multicast transport services: Router support for multicast applications

Abstract

The development of scalable end-to-end multicast protocols is a tremendous challenge because of the problems in feedback implosion and transmission isolation. In this paper we describe a set of simple services, called Generic Multicast Transport Services (GMTS), which are implemented in routers for the purpose of assisting the scalability of end-to-end multicast protocols. GMTS provides a rich set of filtering and aggregation functions that support feedback suppression and sub-tree multicast operations which are desirable for many multicast transport protocols. We describe the GMTS architecture, the set of services, and provide examples of how the services can be used to support reliable multicast, repair services, anycasting, and multicast congestion control.