MultiFlow: Enhancing IP Multicast over IEEE 802.11 WLAN

We present MultiFlow as a new approach for efficiently supporting IP Multicast traffic over IEEE 802.11 WLANs. In MultiFlow a multicast traffic flow is transparently converted to multiple unicast flows, one for each multicast subscriber, in the fixed part of the network behind wireless access points (APs). The conversion process is applied selectively on multicast traffic flows-based on the status of wireless access network, e.g., actual modulation rates of the wireless nodes subscribed to the multicast service-to ensure that the conversion does improve the IP Multicast performance. Additionally, we demonstrate how the MultiFlow can be realized in a network by employing the concept of software-defined networking (SDN) and OpenFlow protocol without the need for adopting any proprietary software/hardware. We present a detailed design of the MultiFlow and an in-depth analysis of IP Multicast services´ examples that benefit from the deployment of MultiFlow.