Use-cases analysis for multicast listener support in network-based distributed mobility management

With the explosion in traffic consumption, the limitations of centralized mobility protocols became a concern. As a result, the concept of distributed mobility management (DMM) emerged. Basically, DMM brings the mobility anchors closer to the users, avoiding issues as single point of failure and non-optimal routing. On the other hand, IP multicast, being designed for efficiency, is a key method for alleviating traffic load, but no work has been done in identifying how IP multicast may be supported using this new DMM paradigm. This paper presents different mobility schemes for providing multicast listener support in network-based DMM scenarios. All schemes rely on the usage of MLD Proxy, and differ in distribution and proactivity degrees. The schemes were evaluated from a user perspective by estimating the service disruption time. Moreover, the sensitivity of each of the schemes to three different aspects is shown both qualitatively and by numerical results: users´ session to mobility ratio (SMR), host reattachment time after handoff, and tunnel congestion.