A multiple multicast server distribution scheme for reducing the end-to-end path delay and overall load in ATM networks for single source applications

ATM multicasting using the multicast address resolution server (MARS) and multicasting server (MCS) has been presented as an efficient scheme for supporting IP multicast over ATM. On the other hand, Internet TV, distance learning, and file distribution are emerging large-scale multicast applications in which only a single source has to deliver data to all hosts participating in the multicast group. We introduce a new scheme for electing MCSs among all hosts in the network to minimize both the end-to-end path delay and the overall load across the network for single source applications. We introduce a new measure of the overall load which is determined by calculating the number of packets´ copies multiplied by the number of hops done to complete the transmission of one packet from the sender to all members in the multicast group.