Summary: Multicast Group Behavior in the
Internet's Multicast Backbone (MBone) \Lambda
Kevin C. Almeroth
Mostafa H. Ammar
Networking and Telecommunications Group
College of Computing
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia 30332­0280
fkevin, ammarg@cc.gatech.edu
(404)894­3292
(404)894­0272 (fax)
November 26, 1996
Abstract
The Multicast Backbone (MBone) is a network overlaying the global Internet designed to
support multipoint applications. In this paper, we first give an overview of the development and
architecture of the current MBone. One important characteristic of the MBone is its reliance on
IP multicast which allows receivers to join and leave groups asynchronously. We describe The
Mlisten data collection tool that was created to provide a mechanism for capturing information
about when members join and leave a multicast group. Using data collected with Mlisten, we
present statistics about some of the MBone sessions we monitored. Results are provided for

Source: Ammar, Mostafa - College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology

Collections: Computer Technologies and Information Sciences