RFC 3170 (rfc3170) - Page 2 of 28
IP Multicast Applications: Challenges and Solutions
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 3170 IP Multicast Applications September 2001
4.2 Delay Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
5. Unique Multicast Service Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
5.1 Address Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
5.2 Session Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
5.3 Heterogeneous Receiver Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
5.4 Reliable Data Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
5.5 Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
5.6 Synchronized Play-Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
6. Service APIs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
7. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
8. Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
9. References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
10. Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
11. Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
1. Introduction
IP Multicast will play a prominent role on the Internet in the coming
years. It is a requirement, not an option, if the Internet is going
to scale. Multicast allows application developers to add more
functionality without significantly impacting the network.
Developing multicast-enabled applications is ostensibly simple.
Having datagram access allows any application to send to a multicast
address. A multicast application need only increase the Internet
Protocol (IP) time-to-live (TTL) value to more than 1 (the default
value) to allow outgoing datagrams to traverse routers. To receive a
multicast datagram, applications join the multicast group, which
transparently generates an [IGMPv2, IGMPv3] group membership report.
This apparent simplicity is deceptive, however. Enabling multicast
support in applications and protocols that can scale well on a
heterogeneous network is a significant challenge. Specifically,
sending constant bit rate datastreams, reliable data delivery,
security, and managing many-to-many communications all require
special consideration. Some solutions are available, but many of
these services are still active research areas.
1.1 Motivation
The purpose of this document is to provide a framework for
understanding the challenges of designing and implementing multicast
applications. In order to use multicast communications correctly,
application developers must first understand the various I/O models
and the network services (in addition to basic multicast
communication) that are required. Secondly, application developers
Quinn, et al. Informational