SM: real-time multicast protocols for simultaneous message delivery

Traditionally, a multicast message is sent once by a sender. All receivers will receive the same message but may receive it at different times. This may result in unfair advantage for some receivers. Simultaneous Multicast (SM) applications require that all receivers receive the same message at the same time. SM protocols therefore need to meet a strict deadline to ensure that each receiver will receive a message at the same time, regardless of the network conditions, heterogeneity of the environment and differences between the local clocks in the receivers. Such a real time SM protocol is proposed so that the coordinated deadline can be met by controlling the reserved bandwidth and without the overhead of clock synchronization. A sensing protocol is also proposed to continuously search for better levels of quality and to avoid the overhead of an external feedback protocol. The protocols are bandwidth conscious, enforce fairness and provide scalability.