Multicasting at the Host Interface Level in Wormhole Networks

In this paper we address the problem of providing transparent, reliable, and efficient network-level multicasting in wormhole LANs. We describe some alternatives for achieving deadlock-free multicasting using fast buffer reservation techniques at the host interface level. Tradeoffs involving complexity and performance of various solutions are discussed, and are illustrated using simulation results. Our results show that in most cases the straightforward approach of sending multiple unicast copies of the multicast message at the originator host turns out to be the most simple and effective approach.