Comparative study of cost distribution charging schemes for multicast services

In this paper, we examine the problem of cost distribution in a real-time multicast service across network domains. When real-time (or almost real-time) services are considered, common solutions like content distribution networks may not be adequate. While multicast requires significant involvements of all participants, it is a well-known technology that provides a scalable method to offer such services. Assuming each domain that participates in the service can express their cost in terms of QoS parameters, we study the application of charging schemes that combine such unicast cost functions. Our experiments compare several charging schemes and show how they reflect the use of resources, their fairness among participants, as well as how are they influenced by content distribution tree topologies.