Reliable and efficient multicast protocol for mobile IP networks

To provide a multicasting service, several multicast protocols for mobile hosts (MHs) have been proposed. However, all of these protocols have faults, such as non-optimal delivery routes and data loss when hosts move to another network, resulting in insecure multicast data transmissions. Thus, this paper presents a new reliable and efficient multicast routing protocol for mobile IP networks. The proposed protocol provides a reliable multicast transmission by compensating the data loss from the previous mobile agent when a MH moves to another network. In addition, an additional function allows for direct connection to the multicast tree according to the status of agents, thereby providing a more efficient and optimal multicast path. The performance of the proposed protocol is confirmed based on simulations under various conditions. Copyright (C) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.