MQM - Multicast Quality Monitor

In the last years, various approaches have been shown to measure the reliability of an IP multicast network. Some of these tools are intended just to check the reachability of different hosts and routers via IP multicast, some are going a little further. They try to measure the Quality of Service (QoS) of the IP multicast network as well. The most interesting approach is the MRM (Multicast Reachability Monitor, formerly known as Multicast Route Monitor [2], [4]). The Multicast Quality Monitor (MQM) presented here is mainly based on the ideas of the MRM. The MQM introduces different ways to measure the reliability and the quality of an IP multicast network. It is designed to work for intra-domain as well as for inter-domain multicast environments. Very different from the MRM is the distinction between reachability and quality measurements and the kind of inter-probe communication. Based on these ideas, it is possible to measure reliability and quality in IP multicast networks. The remaining question is ’What to measure?’ As a third part, information is required about the locations within the network where the parts of the measurement system should be placed. This question is discussed by presenting a model for a whole IP multicast system starting with the network itself but also including the services on top of it. Finally, the paper summarizes the state of the art of methods for reliability and quality measurements in IP multicast networks.