An unbounded protocol for point to multipoint communication

The design and analysis of a protocol with an unbounded sequence space that ensures reliable point-to-multipoint communication over local area networks is considered. Analytical models are used to obtain throughput and delay characteristics. Simulation is used to provide an assessment of the analytical results. Salient features of the authors´ approach are: (i) the responsibility of ensuring reliable message communication is vested with the receivers, (ii) receivers arbitrate in sending their retransmission requests, and (iii) an attempt is made to reduce the overall number of transmissions. The approach advocated here serves as a design step in obtaining an improved protocol that supports a finite window