A classification of multicast mechanisms: Implementations and applications

This paper presents a taxonomy of multicast protocols in distributed computing systems. It classifies multicast protocols based on a four-dimensional model which is derived from the analysis of both application requirements and design goals of multicast mechanisms. The four dimensions are atomicity, ordering, real-time delivery and fault tolerance. Multicast protocols can be described by parameters in these four dimensions with different degrees of strength. This classification model captures the main features of all multicast mechanisms. It can help users to: (1) describe, analyze and evaluate multicast mechanisms; (2) specify clearly the required multicast properties; (3) build more structured multicast mechanisms and reduce the complexity of implementations; (4) design flexible multicast mechanisms which customize users' needs at run-time.