A flexible and secure multicast architecture for ATM networks

We describe our unifying architecture for multipoint-to-multipoint communications in ATM networks which meets the diverse requirement of group communications and permit a large degree of control on the multicast group. With an integrated use of a name space, the scheme allows scalable extension to large scale wide area multicast communications. We also enable flexible control o of the routing architecture and group membership. We consider a security service to be a fundamental element of multicast communication. A framework of a multicast authority and multicast coordination center is used to provide the dynamic group management and membership support, with a integrated security mechanism for flexible group access. The implementation experience of this architecture on the XUNET wide area ATM testbed is also discussed