Source Adaptive Receiver Driven Layered Multicast

Spatial and temporal variations in network bandwidth constraints constitute serious challenges to the multicast distribution of real-time video content. We present a video multicast algorithm that combines multi-layered video encoding with feedback-based source adaptation in order to address varying bandwidth constraints in a multicast tree. The proposed algorithm uses a novel multicast flow control mechanism in conjunction with explicit rate congestion feedback. It achieves efficient bandwidth utilization. The proposed mechanism is capable of providing a high quality video service in the presence of varying bandwidth constraints.