A third-party value-added network service approach to reliable multicast
Kunwadee Sripanidkulchai, Andy Myers, Hui Zhang · 1999
We propose a third-party value-added services framework for enhancing the performance of reliable multicast protocols.In this framework, a value-added service provider will place servers called waypoints throughout ISPs' networks.Waypoints run a fully distributed, dynamic algorithm to determine which multicast groups to join.Having joined a group, a waypoint participates in the error recovery protocol, supplying repairs to receivers.From the application's perspective, waypoints appear to be additional application endpoints in the network.Waypoints seamlessly interoperate with current reliable multicast algorithms with only a minor change to receivers and no changes to routers.In our implementation, receivers and waypoints use STORM, a structure-based error recovery protocol.The waypoint recovery service is not limited to one error recovery protocol, and can be extended to enhance other reliable multicast protocols.Results from simulation experiments are presented to evaluate the potential benefits of theproposed scheme.We find that when multicast group members are isolated from each other, a waypoint recovery service can significantly enhance receivers' performance.