Multicast in DKS(N, k, f) overlay networks

Recent developments in the area of peer-to-peer computing show that structured overlay networks implementing distributed hash tables scale well and can serve as infrastructures for Internet scale applications. We are developing a family of infrastructures, DKS(N, k, f), for the construction of peer-to-peer applications. An instance of DKS(N, k, f) is an overlay network that implements a distributed hash table and which has a number of desirable properties: low cost of communication, scalability, logarithmic lookup length, fault-tolerance and strong guarantees of locating any data item that was inserted in the system. In this paper, we show how multicast is achieved in DKS(N, k, f) overlay networks. The design presented here is attractive in three main respects. First, members of a multicast group self-organize in an instance of DKS(N,k,f) in a way that allows co-existence of groups of different sizes, degree of fault-tolerance, and maintenance cost, thereby, providing flexibility. Second, each member of a group can multicast, rather than having single source multicast. Third, within a group, dissemination of a multicast message is optimal under normal system operation in the sense that there are no redundant messages despite the presence of outdated routing information.