Resource allocation using multiple edge-sharing multicast trees

Implementing multicast in MANETs is a challenging task. A typical multicast network consists of a single tree, in which only a few internal nodes contribute most resources and are involved in performing the multicast functionality. This leads to an un-even utilization of network resources. This problem is more prominent in MANETs where network resources are limited. A possible solution to the problem is to split the multicast content over a number of trees. Multiple trees provide several paths for the multicast content and get more nodes involved in implementing the multicast functionality. However, in such a setup, not all the trees get to use the best weight edges, thus the overall multicast latency increases. This paper presents MEST, a distributed algorithm to construct multiple edge-sharing trees for small group multicast. MEST balances the resource allocation and delay constraints by choosing to overlap certain edges that have low weights. Our simulation results show that MEST is scalable and can generate multicast networks that have low delay and fair resource utilization.