Efficient Algorithms for Delay-bounded Multicast Tree Generation for Multimedia Applications

Abstract

Given a network topology and costs associated with the links, the problem of generating a minimum cost multicast tree can be modelled as a Steiner tree problem. However, many real time applications such as video-conferencing require that data be sent within prespecified delay limits in order to avoid problems such as anachronism and lack of synchronization. This paper deals with the delay-bounded cost-optimal multicast tree (DBCMT) generation problem. A closely related problem is to find a delay-bounded cost-optimal path (DBCP) between a specified source and destination node. Such a path can be used be used as a starting point to solve the DBCMT. We present here two heuristics for building delay constrained multicast trees which have near optimal cost. A comparison of our heuristics with other proposed heuristics is also presented.