What is Multicast Routing?

Abstract

Consider a telecommunications network consisting of a set of nodes connected by arcs. The network might be, e.g., the Internet, or the private network offered by a service provider such as AT&T. A node represents a physical device, such as a switch or router, connected to other devices. The term switch is typically used to refer to a device performing layer 2 data link functionality (e.g., Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) or Frame Relay) in the OSI model [102], while a router performs layer 3 network functionality in the OSI model. For brevity, by node we mean either a switch or a router. An arc represents a communications pathway, such as a fiber optic cable or a radio (wireless) link.