Benefits of multicast traffic split routing in packet switched networks

We propose a simple multicast traffic split routing for packet switched networks (Internet). We propose a mathematical model that maximizes the reward generated by successfully forwarding packets from source to destinations. Using this model, we show that in order to reduce packet loss, while keeping the delay bounded: 1) trees should be as small as possible (typically spanning trees) and 2) trees should be as disjoint as possible. We also show that these two routing rules are independent of the traffic forecast which makes them of practical interest. We then propose a simple traffic split routing algorithm based on these two rules. Numerical results show that traffic split routing outperforms shortest path routing in terms of packet loss while being comparable in terms of queuing delay.