Integration of small and large packet-level FEC codes with data carousels for reliable multicast transport over satellite links

Automatic repeat request (ARQ), data carousels and packet-level forward error correction (PLFEC) are fundamental techniques for combating packet loss in point-to-multipoint communications. Generally speaking, ARQ-based techniques are unattractive due to the feedback implosion they generate. Furthermore, in broadcast/multicast wireless networks, radio resources are scarce and feedback may not be an option at all. Two error mitigation mechanisms that become relevant in this scenario are data carousels and PLFEC. In this work, we consider the application of these two techniques as components of an integrated layer in satellite environments. We also investigate the impact of the type of PLFEC code, small or large, on the main user-oriented performance metric of the data carousels, the average content download time