Multicast routing with delay and delay variation constraints using genetic algorithm

The paper presents a constrained multicast routing scheme based on genetic algorithm (GA). The paper considers two constraints which represent quality of service (QoS) measures that a network should provide for real-time applications. First, a constraint on end-to-end delay from source to each destination, second, bounded delay variations along the paths from source to each destination. A genetic algorithm for delay and delay variation multicast routing (GADVM) is proposed. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated through simulations and compared with four known multicast routing algorithms, namely, BSMA, CDKS, SPT, and KPP. Two performance metrics are considered, the failure rate and average cost per path. It is demonstrated that the GADVM algorithm compares favourably and gives much lower failure rates; its cost is also comparable with, and in some cases is better than, other algorithms.