Multicasting

Communications
in
Distributed Systems
Multicasting Communication Distributed System
 Sending data to multiple receivers.

 Explicit communication paths set up could be at

Application Level for peer-to-peer solutions.

 Without explicit communication paths, gossip based

information dissemination provides simple but less
efficient way to implement multicasting.
A single message (as transmitted by the sender) is
delivered to a group of processes. One way to
achieve this is to use a special multicasting address

multicasting: delivery of data from one host to

many.
destinations; for instance for multimedia
applications
 a one-to-many relationship
Operation of Multicasting Communication
This is an operation that sends a single message from one process to each of the
members of group of processes, usually in such a way that the membership of the
group is transparent to the senders.

Source
Active receiver
Inactive reciever
Ip multicast-an implementation of multicast communication

 Ip multicast is built on top of the internet protocol(ip)

 Ip packets are addressed to computers- port belongs to the TCP
and UDP levels
 Ip multicast allows the senders to transmit a single ip packet to a
set of computers that form a multicast group.
 The senders are unaware of identities of the individual recipients
and of the size of the group.
 A multicast group is specified by class D internet address- that is an
address who is the first 4 bits are 1110 in ipv4.
 An RLC Scheme for Multicast
Communication
Multicast communication supports the distribution of a data
packet to a group of users.

The application of network coding to multicast communication

in DTNs has received less attention than that of broadcast and 
unicast, partly due to the different semantics and multicast
algorithms for multicast in DTNs.
 1. Application-Level Multicasting
 nodes are organized into an overlay network (a network which is
built on top of another network) and information is disseminated to
its members (routers are not involved as in network-level routing)
 how to construct the overlay network
 nodes organize themselves as a tree with a unique path between
two pairs of nodes or
 nodes organize into a mesh network and there will be multiple
paths between two nodes; adv.: robust
Gossip-Based Data Transmission for multicasting
 Use epidemic protocols where information is
propagated among a collection of nodes without a
coordinator.
 Spreading information without explicit communication 
pathsin large distributed systems using epidemic protoc
ols.
 Avoid write conflicts by allowing only a single node to in
itiate updates for a specific data item
 Node is infected if it holds data that it is willing to sprea
d toother nodes.
 Node that has not seen the data is called susceptible.
Gossip-Based Data Transmission for multicasting Cont……
 Updated node that is not willing or able to spread the data
 is said to be removed.
 Data is time stamped
 Ant-ientropy model of propagation has three approaches 
For updates
 For node P propagating to random node Q:
• P only pushes its own updates to Q
• P only pulls its own updates from Q
• P and Q send updates to each other (push-
pull approach) – This is the best
 Multicast Session

• Node generates a multicast identifier mid (randomly ch
osen 160 bit key).It then looks up succ(mid) that is the n
ode responsible for this key andpromotes it to become  
the root of the multicast tree that is used to senddata to
 interested nodes.

• On the way up to the root, join request will add forward
er nodes or helpers for the group.
 How multicasting Communication is work?
Multicast is a method of group communication where the sender sends data
to multiple receivers or nodes present in the network simultaneously.

Multicasting is a type of one-to-many and many-to-many communication as

it allows sender or senders to send data packets to multiple receivers at once
across LANs or WANs. This process helps in minimizing the data frame of the
network.
 Multicast Advantages

• Enhanced Efficiency: Controls network traffic

and reduces server and CPU loads
• Optimized Performance: Eliminates traffic
redundancy
• Distributed Applications: Makes multipoint
applications possible
 Multicast Disadvantages
Best Effort Delivery: Drops are to be expected. Multicast applications
should not expect reliable delivery of data and should be designed
accordingly. Reliable Multicast is still an area for much research.
No Congestion Avoidance: Lack of TCP windowing and “slow start”
mechanisms can result in network congestion. If possible, Multicast
applications should attempt to detect and avoid congestion conditions.
Thank You