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Chapter 8 Multicast
Multicast Overview
In the network, packets are sent in three modes: unicast, broadcast and multicast. In unicast, the
source server sends separate copy information to each receiver. When a large number of users
require this information, the server must send many pieces of information with the same content to
the users. Therefore, large bandwidth will be occupied. In broadcast, the system transmits
information to all users in a network. Any user in the network can receive the information, no
matter the information is needed or not.
Point-to-multipoint multimedia business, such as video conferences and VoD (video-on-demand),
plays an important part in the information transmission field. Suppose a point to multi-point service
is required, unicast is suitable for networks with sparsely users, whereas broadcast is suitable for
networks with densely distributed users. When the number of users requiring this information is
not certain, unicast and broadcast deliver a low efficiency. Multicast solves this problem. It can
deliver a high efficiency to send data in the point to multi-point service, which can save large
bandwidth and reduce the network load. In multicast, the packets are transmitted in the following
way as shown in Figure 8-1.
Figure 8-1 Information transmission in the multicast mode
Features of multicast:
1. The number of receivers is not certain. Usually point-to-multipoint transmission is needed;
2. Multiple users receiving the same information form a multicast group. The multicast
information sender just need to send the information to the network device once;
3. Each user can join and leave the multicast group at any time;
4. Real time is highly demanded and certain packets drop is allowed.
