Performance of parity-based loss recovery for reliable multicast in third-generation mobile networks

We investigate the performance of parity-based reliable multicast in third-generation networks in terms of residual packet error rate, throughput and delay. For multicast over the CDMA air interface, we distinguish between the use of point-to-multipoint (PTM) channels that are broadcast over the entire cell or separate point-to-point (PTP) channels that are transmitted to individual users of the group. As a first step, the residual packet error rates of the radio link control (RLC) layer using PTM and PTP channels for multicast are established, assuming that the RLC layer is not fully reliable. Subsequently, these results are used to determine the performance of the end-to-end reliable multicast mechanism operating on top of the RLC layer. Our results provide insight into the throughput and packet delay trade-off of using a single PTM or separate PTP channels for reliable multicast in third-generation mobile networks