Reliable multicast routing in mobile networks: a neural-network approach

For the sophisticated organisation of multicast communications in mobile networks, reliable and secure point-to-point, point-to-multipoint specific group communication is required. A reliable multicast tree is an efficient connectivity between the source node and the group members through dependable hosts. When a mobile host changes its access point, multicast routes must be updated. This poses several challenges to providing efficient multicast routing. A neural-network-based multicast routing algorithm is proposed for constructing a reliable multicast tree to connect multicast group participants. The mobile network is divided into clusters of nodes (mobile support stations) based on their adjacency relation, by considering a suitable neighbourhood distance. The centre cluster, whose nodes are almost equidistant from the group members, is computed to construct the shortest multicast tree that passes through the centre cluster and reliable routers among all the group members. A Kohonen self-organising-map neural network is used for clustering. Hopfield neural networks are used to construct a multicast tree which has a minimum number of links and passes through the nodes of the centre cluster. The tree is constructed as and when members move. This scheme should construct a reliable multicast tree and minimise recomputation time of the tree when the route is updated as mobile hosts change their access point. The computational power of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated by simulation. It is also tested for the mobility of participating mobile hosts. The proposed work facilitates a possible multicast routing algorithm for future high-speed mobile networks