Address management and connection control for multicast communication applications

An architecture and associated protocols are presented for managing multicast addresses and performing connection control for multicast communication applications. A scheme to partition the multicast address space on the basis of the network number is proposed (an underlying IP-based internetworking environment is assumed), and its performance and scaling characteristics are discussed. A protocol is then developed to provide for dynamic allocation and release of multicast addresses, as well as maintaining state information for a connection. The protocol is independent of the address partitioning scheme; it is also shown to be robust and efficient. Finally, we describe two different mechanisms that enable the use of a common port number by all session participants