OSI-an appropriate basis for group communication?

A survey of how far today's protocols are able to satisfy demands arising from group communication is given. The functionality supplied by a communication system to provide for effective multiparty communication is discussed.. Today's relevant open systems interconnection (OSI) protocols and service definitions are judged with respect to this problem: addressing and appropriate routing mechanisms within the network layer, multiplexing within the transport layer, and directory services within the application layer. Suggestions are made as to how bottlenecks may be avoided. Furthermore, enhancements of the directory service providing for more sophisticated group establishment and management are proposed. Emphasis is put on the interdependencies of group names, addresses, routes, and the internet protocol.<>