Algorithms for delay constrained group multicast routing

Multicast routing allows network sources to use network resources efficiently by sending only a single copy of data to all group members. In the delay constrained group multicast routing problem (DCGMRP), every group member is also a source, and has an individual minimal delay and bandwidth requirement. The routing algorithm must, for each member of the group, construct a source‐based routing tree spanning all the other member nodes without exceeding the capacities of the traversed links, while satisfying the stated delay constraints. Previous work adopted the direct, intuitive approach by first creating a source‐based multicast tree independently for each member node, and then iteratively locating network links whose capacity constraint are violated and eliminating the violation by rerouting the trees. In this paper, we investigate a number of efficient and effective algorithms, DCGM_IA+, DCGM_GR and DCGM_CP, for solving DCGMRP and compare their performance with previous proposals. Through extensive experiments, our proposals are shown to outperform previous algorithms in constructing group multicast trees with low costs and high success ratios. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.