Abstract

Multicast routing enables efficient data distribution to mul-tiple recipients. However, existing work has concentrated on extending single-domain techniques to wide-area networks, rather than providing mechanisms to realize inter-domain multicast on a global scale in the Internet. We describe an architecture for inter-domain multicast routing that consists of two complementary protocols. The Multicast Address-Set Claim (MASC) protocol forms the basis for a hierarchical address allocation architecture. It dynamically allocates to domains multicast address ranges from which groups initiated in the domain get their mul-tic & addresses. The Border-Gateway Multicast Protocol (BGMP), run by the border routers of a domain, constructs inter-domain bidirectional shared trees, while allowing any existing multicast routing protocol to be used within in-dividual domains. The resulting shared tree for a group is rooted at the domain whose address range covers the group’s address; this domain is typically the group initiator’s do-main. We demonstrate the feasibility and performance of these complementary protocols through simulation.

Citations