Distance priority based multicast routing in WDM networks considering sparse light splitting

As we know, the member-only algorithm in provides the best links stress and wavelength usage for the construction of multicast light-trees in WDM networks with sparse splitting. However, the diameter of tree is too big and the average delay is also too large, which are intolerant for QoS required multimedia applications. In this paper, a distance priority based algorithm is proposed to build light-trees for multicast routing, where the Candidate Destinations and the Candidate Connectors are introduced. Simulations show the proposed algorithm is able to greatly reduce the diameter and average delay of the multicast tree (up to 51% and 50% respectively), while keep the same or get a slightly better link stress as well as the wavelength usage than the famous Member-Only algorithm.