Reliable Multicast Via Satellite

IP multicasting is an important service, which will be provided by the next generation Internet. A range of applications has emerged which take the advantage of multicast delivery. However, several factors currently hinder large-scale deployment of terrestrial multicast services. It is particularly difficult to support delivery to large groups of users.

Satellites offer a natural way to extend the multicast service to reach this large number of users. They may offer high capacity (especially when using next generation satellite systems) and also eliminate the need for a large number of intermediate routing hops. There are important differences in the way multicast applications operate over satellite. This paper therefore reviews the key design paradigm and offers a critical comparison between different reliable multicast protocol techniques based on a taxonomy. The suitability of a set of the most common reliable multicast protocols is assessed within a satellite environment and conclusions are presented. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.