Routing multiple multicast services using genetic algorithms

Abstract

This work focuses on the group multicast routing problem. The major contribution of the paper to this problem is twofold. Firstly, the use of the genetic algorithms (GA) is proposed for solving the complexity problem inherent to the packing of multiple sessions. Secondly, a novel cost function is proposed, weighting in a single expression both network bandwidth allocation and provided one-way delay. The proposed function is guided by few parameters that can be easily tuned during traffic engineering operations; an appropriate setting of these parameters allows the operator to configure the desired balance between network resource utilization and provided QoS in terms of transmission delay. Experimental results are compared with those of a heuristic algorithm that provides a lower bound for the optimization problem. This highlights that the proposed method brings to a strong reduction in the processing time.