Adaptation of IP multicast for optically switched networks: an analysis of mirrors

Abstract: New research perspectives opened up by the combination of IP and WDM technologies present an excellent opportunity for reformulating certain aspects of multicast transmission, bringing them more in line with the needs of future generations of IP internetworking. This paper analyses MIRRORS, which proposes modifications to traditional IP Multicast in order to improve its scalability as a function of the number of simultaneously active groups, as well as making it more appropriate for use in optically switched networks. In this analysis, MIRRORS is compared with other major multicast alternatives, using such parameters as: information state requirements, control overhead, cost of packet forwarding and cost of the multicast distribution tree.