A comparison of multicast feedback control mechanisms

In reliable multicast applications, packet loss needs to be reported by having group members send feedback messages. This results in the well-known feedback implosion problem. The available feedback control mechanisms can be classified as timer-based, hierarchy-based and router-assisted, among which the timer-based approach is more preferable due to its simplicity and flexibility. This paper compares the performance of a set of multicast protocols that use either the traditional timer-based feedback control or a combination of the traditional timers and some representatives in the feedback control. We investigate how the use of representatives and deterministic timers improves feedback control performance.