Reliable multicast protocol design choices

Many of the applications that will be hosted on the Marine Corps' Tactical Data Network (TDN) require data to be delivered reliably from one or more senders to many receivers. Reliable multicast protocols are better suited for this one-to-many communication than conventional transport layer unicast protocols. The reliable multicast protocols that are deployed on the tactical internet must make the best use of its scarce bandwidth, respond properly to the expected high bit error rates, and be able to contend with its inevitable disruptions. Because different types of applications that require reliable one-to-many communications make different demands on the underlying transport layer reliable multicast protocol, more than one protocol will probably be fielded on the tactical internet. The protocol selected to support a particular type of application should be the one best suited for the tactical environment. The protocol design choices explained in this paper may be used to identify those reliable multicast protocols which meet the requirements of a particular type of application. This same taxonomy may also be used to determine which of these protocols is better suited for the tactical internet.