Using destination set grouping to improve the performance of window-controlled multipoint connections

In conventional multicast communication, the source carries a single conversation with all destination nodes. If a node on the path to any destination becomes congested the throughput to all destinations is reduced, thus treating same destination nodes unfairly. We consider a window-controlled multipoint connection and study the use of destination set grouping, where the destination set can be split into disjoint subgroups with the source carrying independent conversations with each subgroup. We present a dynamic grouping protocol which can adjust the grouping and the window sizes per group in response to changing network conditions. The performance of the protocol is studied using simulation and compared with single-group multicasting.