OMFVS: overlay multicast for file distribution using virtual sources

There have been many research efforts to enhance the throughput of file distribution using overlay multicast. The tree-based approach has limitations in enhancing throughput due to its single forwarder architecture. Recent approaches introduce multiple packet forwarders other than the parent in the delivery tree for throughput enhancement. However, the overhead of control packet exchanges is required to appoint proper forwarders and to avoid duplicate packet delivery. In this paper, we suggest a throughput enhancement scheme for a tree-based overlay multicast scheme with multiple forwarders. It exploits a forward error correction scheme and the fact that the members join the session with time interval. Thus, each set of packets that are delivered from a parent to a member after the member joins and before a succeeding member joins is not overlapped. By deploying a dedicated sender to manage the membership information and packet reception state, the overhead of control packet exchanges is alleviated significantly. The performance evaluation shows that the proposed scheme reduces file delivery time with low control overheads and small packet duplication ratio, compared with existing scheme, Bullet.