Adopting Minimum Spanning Tree Algorithm for Application-Layer Reliable Mutlicast in Global Mutli-Gigabit Networks

Abstract

Data transmission over the Wide Area Networks (WAN) is a common practice in nowadays Internet, however, it has its limitations. One of them is that IP multicast data transmission rarely can be applied outside of Local Area Networks (LAN). Due to its vulnerability, multicast traffic is blocked by most Internet Service Providers’ (ISP) edge equipment. To overcome this limitation, an Application Layer Multicast (ALM) is proposed, where multicast functionality is implemented on the end-hosts, instead of network equipment. For the application of ALM no changes in the network are needed, what significantly facilitate deployment of multicast services. The key point of this work is to implement ALM for reliable high-speed data transmission over WANs using RMDT transport protocol and Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) algorithm, which shall improve bandwidth utilization and provide a higher data rate for data propagation across multiple sites.