A framework for systematic evaluation of multicast congestion control protocols

Congestion control is a major requirement for multicast to be deployed in the current Internet. Due to the complexity and conflicting tradeoffs, the design and testing of multicast congestion control protocols is difficult. In this paper, we present a novel framework for systematic testing of multicast congestion control protocols. In our framework, we first design an appropriate model for the studied protocols based on the protocols specifications and correctness conditions, and then we develop an automated search engine to generate all possible error scenarios and filter these errors to come up with a selected set of scenarios that we evaluate in more detailed simulations. Our methodology helps in identifying the potential problems of the studied protocols and points to possible improvements. We hope that this will provide a valuable tool to expedite the development and standardization of such protocols.