Interest-aware and bandwidth-efficient multicast group planning

In multicast group planning in tactical networks (TNs), one of the most important challenges is to maximize the efficient use of network and end-user resources. Hence, multicast groups should be planned cleverly such that the total shared link capacity in a multicast distribution tree is increased and the reception of unwanted traffic at receiver nodes is reduced to a maximum extent. In this paper, we propose a technique to generate a group configuration by estimating the link capacity shared by any two users in a shortest-path multicast tree to improve the branching characteristics such as height and breadth of the tree while reducing the unwanted traffic by considering overlapping user interests. A two-tier information dissemination system architecture for TNs, where a central planner controls many dissemination executives, is a typical application for multicast group planning techniques. We provide simulation results showing that, compared to existing group planning techniques, our approach generates multicast trees with improved branching characteristics while keeping the unwanted traffic within acceptable limits.