Design differentiated service multicast with selfish agents

Differentiated service (DiffServ) is a mechanism to provide the quality-of-service (QoS) with a certain performance guarantee. In this paper, we study how to design DiffServ multicast when every relay link is an independent selfish agent. We assume that each link e/sub i/ is associated with a (privately known) cost coefficient c/sub i/ such that the cost of e/sub i/ to provide a transmission service with bandwidth demand x is c/sub i//spl middot/x. Further, we assume that there is a fixed source node s and a set R of receivers, each of which requires from s data with a minimum bandwidth demand. The DiffServ multicast problem is to compute a link-weighted tree rooted at s and spanning R such that the receivers' demands are met. This generalizes the traditional link-weighted Steiner tree problem. We first show that a previous approximation algorithm does not directly induce a strategyproof mechanism. We then give a new polynomial time algorithm to construct a DiffServ multicast tree whose total cost is no more than eight times the optimal total cost when the cost coefficient of each link is known. Based on this tree, we design a truthful mechanism for DiffServ multicast, i.e., we give a polynomial-time computable payment scheme to compensate all chosen relay links such that each link maximizes its profit when it declares its cost coefficient truthfully.     

A resource‐tuned QoS multicast routing protocol

This paper presents a novel framework for quality‐of‐service (QoS) multicast routing with resource allocation that represents QoS parameters, jitter delay, and reliability, as functions of adjustable network resources, bandwidth, and buffer, rather than static metrics. The particular functional form of QoS parameters depends on rate‐based service disciplines used in the routers. This allows intelligent tuning of QoS parameters as functions of allocated resources during the multicast tree search process, rather than decoupling the tree search from resource allocation. The proposed framework minimizes the network resource utilization while keeping jitter delay, reliability, and bandwidth bounded. This definition makes the proposed QoS multicast routing with resource allocation problem more general than the classical minimum Steiner tree problem. As an application of our general framework, we formulate the QoS multicast routing with resource allocation problem for a network consisting of generalized processor sharing nodes as a mixed‐integer quadratic program and find the optimal multicast tree with allocated resources to satisfy the QoS constraints. We then present a polynomial‐time greedy heuristic for the QoS multicast routing with resource allocation problem and compare its performance with the optimal solution of the mixed‐integer quadratic program. The simulation results reveal that the proposed heuristic finds near‐optimal QoS multicast trees along with important insights into the interdependency of QoS parameters and resources.     

Video distribution on multicast networks

The Internet is being used to distribute video programming to small, widely distributed audiences over a multicast backbone (Mbone). This type of service can be used to deliver specialized programming to the general population. As the service becomes more widely used, conserving the required transmission facilities becomes more important. We define the problem of designing multicast networks for video distribution. The problem is related to the Steiner tree problem, with an interesting twist. The line costs are not constant. An heuristic is developed to solve the problem and the new heuristic is related to and compared with heuristics, developed for the Steiner tree problem and algorithms to design minimum depth and minimum spanning trees     

Improved heuristics for multicast routing in wireless mesh networks

Multicast is a communication technique that allows a source to transmit data to a set of recipients in an efficient manner. Therefore, the primary objective of a multicast routing protocol would be to minimize number of transmissions to conserve bandwidth. The problem of computing multicast trees with minimal bandwidth consumption is similar to Steiner tree problem and has shown to be NP-complete. So, heuristic based algorithms are suitable to approximate such bandwidth optimal trees. This paper proposes a multicast routing protocol based on minimum number of transmission trees using an heuristic approach. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm offers better performance over existing protocols, even in the worst-case scenario when the set of multicast receivers are sparsely distributed across the network.     

Optimal partition of QoS requirements on unicast paths andmulticast trees

We investigate the problem of optimal resource allocation for end-to-end QoS requirements on unicast paths and multicast trees. Specifically, we consider a framework in which resource allocation is based on local QoS requirements at each network link, and associated with each link is a cost function that increases with the severity of the QoS requirement. Accordingly, the problem that we address is how to partition an end-to-end QoS requirement into local requirements, such that the overall cost is minimized. We establish efficient (polynomial) solutions for both unicast and multicast connections. These results provide the required foundations for the corresponding QoS routing schemes, which identify either paths or trees that lead to minimal overall cost. In addition, we show that our framework provides better tools for coping with other fundamental multicast problems, such as dynamic tree maintenance     

共享路径优先组播路由算法

求解开销最小组播树在数学上归结为Steiner树问题,但由于寻找最优的Steiner树问题是NP-Complete问题,因此在组播应用中,采用启发式算法获得次优的组播树是常见的方法。该文提出了一种新的的启发式组播路由算法(Shared Path First Heuristic,SPFH)该算法在选择目的节点加入组播树时,既考虑到目的节点到树上的距离,又考虑到先加入的节点对后续加入节点的影响。算法从距离当前组播树近的目的节点中挑选节点加入组播树,选择的规则是,把能够减小其它目的节点加入组播树开销的节点先加入树。仿真结果表明,SPFH算法能找到开销接近于最优解的组播树。     

A Distributed Routing Method for Dynamic Multicasting

Single point, sender based control does not scale well for multicast delivery. For applications, such as group video or teleconferencing a low total cost multicast tree is required. In this article we present a destination driven algorithm to minimize the total tree cost of multicast tree in a dynamic situation for the whole session duration. In this heuristic approach we considered the staying duration of participants are available at the time of joining. The performance of our algorithm is analyzed through extensive simulation and evaluated against several other existing dynamic multicast routing and also against one well known near optimum heuristic algorithm used for solving Steiner tree problem. We have further tested our algorithm using erroneous information given by the joining participants. Simulation results show that its performance does not degrade that much even when the range of error is considerably high, which proves the robustness of our algorithm.     

A rearrangeable algorithm for the construction of delay-constraineddynamic multicast trees

With the proliferation of multimedia group applications, the construction of multicast trees satisfying quality of service (QoS) requirements is becoming a problem of prime importance. Many of the multicast applications (such as video broadcasts and teleconferencing) require the network to support dynamic multicast sessions wherein the membership of the multicast group changes with time. In this paper, we propose and evaluate an algorithm called CRCDM (controlled rearrangement for constrained dynamic multicasting) for on-line update of multicast trees to adjust to changes in group membership. The CRCDM algorithm is based on a concept called quality factor (QF) that represents the usefulness of a portion of the multicast tree to the overall multicast session. When the usefulness of a particular region of the tree drops below a threshold, a rearrangement technique is used to suitably modify the tree. Our algorithm aims to satisfy the delay constraints of all current group members, at the same time minimizing the cost of the constructed tree. We compare the performance of our algorithm, by simulation, with that of an off-line Steiner heuristic; with ARIES, a previously published algorithm for on-line update of unconstrained trees; and with the algorithm proposed by Hong, Lee and Park (see Proc. IEEE INFOCOM, p.1433-40, 1998) for on-line update of delay-constrained trees. The simulation results indicate that our algorithm provides excellent cost-competitiveness that is better than that provided by the algorithm described by Hong et al., minimizes changes in the multicast tree after each update, and performs favorably even when compared with the unconstrained ARIES heuristic     

Evaluation of multicast routing algorithms for real-timecommunication on high-speed networks

Multicast (MC) routing algorithms capable of satisfying the quality of service (QoS) requirements of real-time applications will be essential for future high-speed networks. We compare the performance of all of the important MC routing algorithms when applied to networks with asymmetric link loads. Each algorithm is judged based on the quality of the MC trees it generates and its efficiency in managing the network resources. Simulation results over random networks show that unconstrained algorithms are not capable of fulfilling the QoS requirements of real-time applications in wide-area networks. Simulations also reveal that one of the unconstrained algorithms, reverse path multicasting (RPM), is quite inefficient when applied to asymmetric networks. We study how combining routing with resource reservation and admission control improves the RPM's efficiency in managing the network resources. The performance of one semiconstrained heuristic, MSC, three constrained Steiner tree (CST) heuristics, Kompella, Pasquale, and Polyzos (1992), constrained adaptive ordering (CAO), and bounded shortest multicast algorithm (BSMA), and one constrained shortest path tree (CSPT) heuristic, the constrained Dijkstra heuristic (CDKS) are also studied. Simulations show that the semiconstrained and constrained heuristics are capable of successfully constructing MC trees which satisfy the QoS requirements of real-time traffic. However, the cost performance of the heuristics varies. The BSMA's MC trees are lower in cost than all other constrained heuristics. Finally, we compare the execution times of all algorithms, unconstrained, semiconstrained, and constrained     

Tabu search based algorithms for bandwidth-delay-constrained least-cost multicast routing

The advent of various real-time multimedia applications in high-speed networks creates a need for quality of service (QoS) based multicast routing. The Steiner tree problem, is a well-known NP-complete problem, provides the mathematical structure behind multicast communications. Two important QoS constraints are the bandwidth constraint and the end-to-end delay constraint. In this paper, we propose various algorithms to solve the bandwidth-delay-constrained least-cost multicast routing problem based on Tabu Search (TS), addressing issues of the selected initial solution and move type as two major building blocks in short-term memory version of Tabu Search and longer-term memory with associated intensification and diversification strategies as advanced Tabu Search techniques. We evaluate the performance and efficiency of the proposed TS-based algorithms in comparison with other existing TS-based algorithms and heuristics on a variety of random generated networks with regard to total tree cost. Finally we identify the most efficient algorithm uncovered by our testing.     

Improved neural heuristics for multicast routing

Future networks must be adequately equipped to handle multipoint communication in a fast and economical manner. Services requiring such support include desktop video conferencing, tele-classrooms, distributed database applications, etc. In networks employing the asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) technology, routing a multicast is achieved by constructing a minimum cost tree that spans the source and all the destinations. When the network is modeled as a weighted, undirected graph, the problem is that of finding a minimal Steiner tree for the graph, given a set of destinations. The problem is known to be NP-complete. Consequently, several heuristics exist which provide approximate solutions to the Steiner problem in networks, We show how the random neural network (RNN) can be used to significantly improve the quality of the Steiner trees delivered by the best available heuristics which are the minimum spanning tree heuristic and the average distance heuristic. We provide an empirical comparison and find that the heuristics which are modified using the neural network yield significantly improved trees     

A dynamic multicast routing satisfying multiple QoS constraints

In this paper we propose a QoS‐based routing algorithm for dynamic multicasting. The complexity of the problem can be reduced to a simple shortest path problem by applying a Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ) service discipline. Using a modified Bellman–Ford algorithm, the proposed routing builds a multicast tree, where a node is added to the existing multicast tree without re‐routing and satisfying QoS constraints. With user defined life‐time of connection this heuristic algorthm builds multicast tree which is near optimum over the whole duration of session. Simulation results show that tree costs are nearly as good as other dynamic multicast routings that does not consider QoS. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Efficient QoS Partition and Routing of Unicast and Multicast

In this paper, we study problems related to supporting unicast and multicast connections with quality of service (QoS) requirements. We investigate the problem of optimal routing and resource allocation in the context of performance dependent costs. In this context, each network element can offer several QoS guarantees, each associated with a different cost. This is a natural extension to the commonly used bi-criteria model, where each link is associated with a single delay and a single cost. This framework is simple yet strong enough to model many practical interesting networking problems. An important problems in this framework is finding a good path for a connection that minimizes the cost while retaining the end-to-end delay requirement. Once such a path (or a tree, in the multicast case) is found, one needs to partition the end-to-end QoS requirements among the links of the path (tree). We consider the case of general integer cost functions (where delays and cost are integers). As the related problem is NP complete, we concentrate on finding efficient epsiv-approximation solutions. We improve on recent previous results by Erguumln Lorenz and Orda, and Raz and Shavitt, both in terms of generality as well as in terms of complexity of the solution. In particular, we present novel approximation techniques that yield the best known complexity for the unicast QoS routing problem, and the first approximation algorithm for the QoS partition problem on trees, both for the centralized and distributed cases     

A new delay‐constrained algorithm for multicast routing tree construction

New multimedia applications provide guaranteed end‐to‐end quality of service (QoS) and have stringent constraints on delay, delay‐jitter, bandwidth, cost, etc. The main task of QoS routing is to find a route in the network, with sufficient resources to satisfy the constraints. Most multicast routing algorithms are not fast enough for large‐scale networks and where the source node uses global cost information to construct a multicast tree. We propose a fast and simple heuristic algorithm (EPDT) for delay‐constrained routing problem for multicast tree construction. This algorithm uses a greedy strategy based on shortest‐path and minimal spanning trees. It combines the minimum cost and the minimum radius objectives by combining respectively optimal Prim's and Dijkstra's algorithms. It biases routes through destinations. Besides, it uses cost information only from neighbouring nodes as it proceeds, which makes it more practical, from an implementation point of view. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

QoS multicast routing with delay constraints

Proliferation of group-based real-time applications, such as online games and video conferencing has motivated research into QoS multicast routing. These types of applications require consideration of both source-to-destination delay (i.e., packet delay from the source to all destinations) and inter-destination delay variation (i.e., the difference in packet delay from the source to different destinations) constraints. In this paper, we formulate a new combined problem for delay partitioning and multicast routing with source-to-destination delay and inter-destination delay variation constraints in a QoS framework, where a delay dependent cost function is associated with each network link. After identifying the problem asnp-complete, we introduce a Genetic Algorithm (ga) based algorithm that computes a source-based multicast tree which satisfies both constraints with near-optimal cost. We compare differentga schemes using different selection operators and find that the combination of Steady Statega and Remainder Stochastic Sampling selection operator works best for our problem. Simulation results also show that ourga heuristic consistently perfornis better than several other simple heuristics.     

An Integer-Programming Approach to the Bicriteria Multicasting Problem in Optical Networks

We consider the problem of designing quality-of-service (QoS)-constrained routes for a set of multicast groups in an all-optical network. We present an integer goal programming formulation with the objectives of minimizing the cost of the multicast solution and minimizing the maximum link load of the network. Based on the structural properties of the problem, we develop a variable-fixing heuristic which is easy to implement, requires a modest amount of CPU time, and provides high-quality solutions. An extensive computational study is presented to justify our claims     

Multicast tree generation in networks with asymmetric links

We formulate the problem of multicast tree generation as one of computing a directed Steiner tree of minimal cost. In this context, we present a polynomial-time algorithm that provides for trade-off selection, using a single parameter κ, between the tree-cost (Steiner cost) and the run time efficiency. Further, the same algorithm may be used for delay optimization or tree-cost minimization simply by configuring the value of κ appropriately. We present theoretical and experimental analysis characterizing the problem and the performance of our algorithm. Theoretically, we show that it is highly unlikely that there exists a polynomial-time algorithm with a performance guarantee of constant times optimum cost, introduce metrics for measuring the asymmetry of graphs, and show that the worst-case cost of the tree produced by our algorithm is, at most, twice the optimum cost times the asymmetry, for two of these asymmetry metrics. For graphs with bounded asymmetry, this gives constant times optimum performance guarantee. We also show that three well-known algorithms for (undirected) Steiner trees are but particular cases of our algorithm. Our experimental study shows that operating at a low κ gives nearly best possible expected tree cost while maintaining acceptable run-time efficiency     

Energy efficient broadcast routing in static ad hoc wireless networks

In this paper, we discuss energy efficient broadcast in ad hoc wireless networks. The problem of our concern is: given an ad hoc wireless network, find a broadcast tree such that the energy cost of the broadcast tree is minimized. Each node in the network is assumed to have a fixed level of transmission power. We first prove that the problem is NP-hard and propose three heuristic algorithms, namely, shortest path tree heuristic, greedy heuristic, and node weighted Steiner tree-based heuristic, which are centralized algorithms. The approximation ratio of the node weighted Steiner tree-based heuristic is proven to be (1 + 2 ln(n - 1)). Extensive simulations have been conducted and the results have demonstrated the efficiency of the proposed algorithms.     

Distributed algorithms for multicast path setup in data networks

Establishing a multicast tree in a point-to-point network of switch nodes, such as a wide-area asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) network, can be modeled as the NP-complete Steiner problem in networks. In this paper, we introduce and evaluate two distributed algorithms for finding multicast trees in point-to-point data networks. These algorithms are based on the centralized Steiner heuristics, the shortest path heuristic (SPH) and the Kruskal-based shortest path heuristic (K-SPH), and have the advantage that only the multicast members and nodes in the neighborhood of the multicast tree need to participate in the execution of the algorithm. We compare our algorithms by simulation against a baseline algorithm, the pruned minimum spanning-tree heuristic that is the basis of many previously published algorithms for finding multicast trees. Our results show that the competitiveness (the ratio of the sum of the heuristic tree's edge weights to that of the best solution found) of both of our algorithms was, on the average, 25% better in comparison to that of the pruned spanning-tree approach. In addition, the competitiveness of our algorithms was, in almost all cases, within 10% of the best solution found by any of the Steiner heuristics considered, including both centralized and distributed algorithms. Limiting the execution of the algorithm to a subset of the nodes in the network results in an increase in convergence time over the pruned spanning-tree approach, but this overhead can be reduced by careful implementation     

加权的基于多播节点的多播路由算法

在许多多播应用中,降低多播树网络费用非常重要.本文提出了加权的基于多播节点的多播路由算法（WDDMC算法）.由于改变了DDMC（Destination-Driven routing for low-cost Multicast ）算法中的指示函数,适当降低了多播节点作为中间节点的优先级,提高非多播节点作为中间节点的优先级,从而使得多播树更接近最小Steiner树.在随机网络上的仿真结果表明,WDDMC算法的多播树网络费用优于DDMC算法.该算法的复杂度与DDMC算法完全相同.