An error-control scheme for a multicast protocol based on round-trip time calculations

In contrast to traditional one-to-one applications, distributed multimedia applications are based on communication scenarios that involve huge but often limited groups of participants. In general, tele-teaching and virtual reality scenarios require multicasting capabilities that have to deal with reliable data, e.g., simulation data, in addition to isochronous data, e.g., audio or video, that allow for losses depending an the compression technique or color tables. In particular, reliable control messages are needed for multicast signalling purposes. Existing networks have to be enhanced by integrating reliable multicast data transmission protocols to overcome this deficiency. The presented approach provides a network independent error-control scheme for a multicast protocol, offering a high stability in the local area, and an adaptable solution for metropolitan and wide area networks