An autonomic framework for reliable multicast

Abstract

A major challenge in wireless terrestrial networks is to provide large-scale reliable multicast and broadcast services. The main problem limiting the scalability of such networks is feedback implosion, a problem arising when a large number of users transmit their feedback messages through the network, occupying a significant portion of system resources. Inspired by social psychology, specifically from the bystander effect phenomenon, an autonomic framework for large-scale reliable multicast services is presented. The self-configuring and self-optimizing procedures of the proposed autonomic scheme are modeled using game theory. Through appropriate modeling and simulations of the proposed scheme carried out to evaluate its performance, it is found that the new approach suppresses feedback messages very effectively, while at the same time, it does not degrade the timely data transfer.