Explicit Multicast Extension (Xcast+) for Efficient Multicast Packet Delivery

In this letter, we propose a new multicast scheme, named Xcast+, which is an extension of Explicit Multicast (Xcast) for an efficient delivery of multicast packets. The mechanism incorporates the host group model and a new control plane into existing Xcast, and not only does it provide the transparency of traditional multicast schemes to senders and receivers, but it also enhances the routing efficiency in networks. Since intermediate routers do not have to maintain any multicast states, it results in a more efficient and scalable mechanism to deliver multicast packets. Our simulation results show distinct performance improvements of our approach compared to Xcast, particularly as the number of receivers in a subnet increases.