IP Multicast Basics

Copyright © 2019 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

 Foreword
⚫ If unicast technology is used for point-to-multipoint communication, the
amount of data transmitted on the network will be proportional to the
number of users that require the data. Sending multiple copies of identical
data to different users wastes resources on the data source and network
bandwidth. If broadcast technology is used, hosts that do not require the
data will also receive the data. This threatens information security and
causes storms on the local network segment.

⚫ IP multicast technology resolves the preceding problems. The multicast

source sends only one copy of data, which is then replicated and forwarded
by network nodes, and finally sent to specified receivers.

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 Objectives
⚫ Upon completion of this section, you will be able to:
 Be familiar with characteristics of point-to-multipoint applications

 Master the basic multicast architecture

 Understand the structure of multicast addresses

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 Contents
1. Point-to-Multipoint Application Development and Deployment

2. Multicast Overview

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 Traditional Point-to-Point Applications
⚫ A service provider delivers services on a per user basis.

⚫ The service provider transmits different data to different users.

Client B

Server

Client A Client C

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⚫ Traditional point-to-point applications, such as email, web, and online banking,

provide specific services for individuals or organizations. Because of differences in
data required by users and security requirements, data can only be transmitted in
a point-to-point way between clients and servers. That is, communication is
established between one source host and one destination host, and a data flow
has only one sender and one receiver.

⚫ The communication process between the two parties is as follows:

 The server encapsulates data packets and sends them out. In the data
packets, the source IP address is the server’s IP address, the destination IP
address is the client’s IP address, the source MAC address is the source’s
MAC address, and the destination MAC address is the MAC address of the
gateway router.

 When the gateway router receives the data packets, it decapsulates them and
looks up the destination IP address in its routing table to determine the next-
hop address and outbound interface toward the destination IP address. The
gateway router then encapsulates the data packets and forwards them to the
next-hop device through the outbound interface.

 After forwarded hop by hop on the network, the packets arrive at the client.
The client decapsulates the packets and sends them to the upper-layer
application protocol for processing.
 New Point-to-Multipoint Applications
⚫ A service provider delivers services based on groups of users.

⚫ The service provider transmits identical data to all users in the same group.

Online live
broadcasting

Video
conferencing

Web TV

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⚫ With development of the Internet, the data, voice, and video streams transmitted
on networks have increased sharply.

⚫ New applications, such as online live broadcasting, web TV, and video
conferencing, are also growing.

⚫ Most of these new applications use the point-to-multipoint transmission model

and require high information security, wide transmission scope, and high
bandwidth.
 Point-to-Multipoint Application in Unicast Mode

⚫ Problems of the unicast mode: Live broadcasting

started at 9:00 pm
 Too much duplicate traffic

 Many device and link bandwidth resources consumed

 Unable to ensure transmission quality

4 receivers
4 receivers Non-receiver
3 non-receivers

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⚫ Unicast transmission is implemented between a source IP host and a destination IP

host. Most of data is transmitted in unicast mode on a network. For example, email
and online banking applications are implemented in unicast mode.

⚫ Characteristics of unicast transmission:

 A unicast packet uses a unicast address as the destination address. The

source sends an independent copy of unicast packets to each receiver. If
there are N receivers on the network, the source needs to send N copies of
unicast packets.

 The network provides an independent data transmission path to forward

each copy of unicast packets separately. Therefore, N independent
transmission paths need to be established for the N copies of unicast packets.

⚫ Disadvantages of unicast transmission:

 In unicast transmission mode, the amount of data transmitted on a network

is proportional to the number of users that require the data. When many
users require the same data, many duplicate data flows will be transmitted on
the network, which cause high CPU usage on network devices and waste
network bandwidth.

 The unicast mode is suitable for networks with a few users and cannot ensure
data transmission quality when there are many users on a network.
 Point-to-Multipoint Application in
Broadcast Mode
⚫ Problems of the broadcast mode: Live broadcasting
started at 9:00 pm
 Limited application scope

 Unable to ensure security

 Unable to charge for services

4 receivers
4 receivers Non-receiver
3 non-receivers

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⚫ Broadcast transmission is implemented between a source IP host and all the other
IP hosts on the local network. All hosts receive data from the source host,
regardless of whether they require the data.

⚫ Characteristics of broadcast transmission:

 A broadcast packet uses a broadcast address as the destination address. The

source sends only one copy of each packet to the broadcast address on the
local network segment.

 All hosts on the network segment will receive the packets although some of
them may not need the packets.

⚫ Disadvantages of broadcast transmission:

 In broadcast transmission mode, a data sender and user hosts must be

located on a shared network segment, and all hosts on the shared network
segment receive the data from the sender.

 The broadcast transmission mode applies only to a shared network segment,

and cannot ensure information security and cannot implement paid service
for specific users.

⚫ For point-to-multipoint applications, the unicast and broadcast modes both have
their limitations.
 Point-to-Multipoint Application in
Multicast Mode
⚫ Advantages of the multicast mode: Live broadcasting
started at 9:00 pm
 No duplicate traffic

 Conservation of device and bandwidth resources

 High security

 Guarantee of service providers' business return

4 receivers
4 receivers Non-receiver 3 non-receivers

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⚫ Multicast transmission is implemented between one source IP host and a group of

IP hosts. Intermediate routers and switches selectively replicate and forward data
based on demands of receivers.

⚫ Advantages of multicast transmission

 In multicast transmission mode, a data flow is transmitted to a group of users
along a multicast distribution tree. Each link transmits only one copy of
multicast data packets.
 Compared with the unicast mode, the multicast mode starts to copy data and
distribute data copies on the network node as far from the source as possible.
Therefore, the amount of data and network resource consumption will not
increase greatly when the number of receivers increases.

 Compared with the broadcast mode, the multicast mode transmits data only
to receivers that require the data. This saves network resources and enhances
data transmission security. In addition, broadcast packets are only
transmitted within a shared network segment, whereas multicast packets can
travel across network segments.

⚫ Multicast application

 Multicast technology efficiently implements point-to-multipoint data

transmission over an IP network, while conserving network bandwidth and
reducing network loads. Multicast technology can easily provide online live
broadcasting, web TV, distance education, and other point-to-multipoint
services.
 Contents
1. Point-to-Multipoint Application Development and Deployment

2. Multicast Overview

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 Basic Multicast Architecture

Source

Multicast Multicast data

source to router generation

Router to Multicast data

router forwarding

Router to Multicast data

receiver receiving

Client Client

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⚫ Multicast source to router: The multicast source generates multicast data,

encapsulates the data, and sends data packets to the gateway router.

⚫ Router to router: A router selectively replicates and forwards data based on

distribution of receivers.

⚫ Router to receiver: The last-hop router receives multicast data packets and sends
them to receivers.
 Multicast Source to Router
⚫ How does a multicast source encapsulate multicast data?
 How to determine the destination IP address

 How to determine the destination MAC address

Source
Multicast data
DIP: ?
SIP: 192.168.1.1
.1
SMAC: 68-F7-28-42-6D-
0D
192.168.1.0/24
DMAC: ?
.254 .253

RTA RTB

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⚫ Unicast packets are transmitted hop-by-hop over an IP network.

⚫ IP multicast communication differs from IP unicast communication in that the

destination IP address of data packets is a group address, but not an IP address of
a specific host.

⚫ To enable data from a source to reach the group members across the Internet, IP
multicast needs to be implemented. That is, destination IP addresses of multicast
data packets are multicast IP addresses. The multicast source does not care about
locations of the receivers and only needs to send data to a specific group address.

⚫ On an Ethernet network, the destination MAC address of a unicast data frame is

the MAC address of the receiver or the next-hop gateway device.

⚫ The destination of a multicast packet is not a specific receiver but a group with
unspecific members. If the destination MAC address is set to a receiver’s MAC
address, the source must send a copy of each multicast frame to each receiver.

⚫ This is unacceptable. To implement efficient multicast data transmission at the

data link layer, the network must provide link-layer multicast forwarding capability.
Link-layer multicast transmission is implemented based on multicast MAC
addresses.
 Multicast IP Address
⚫ A multicast IP address represents a group of hosts, but not a specific host.
If a host joins a multicast group, it means that the host wants to receive
data packets destined for the multicast IP address.
Range Description
Permanent group addresses
224.0.0.0—224.0.0.255
reserved for routing protocols
224.0.1.0—231.255.255.255 Any-source temporary group
233.0.0.0—238.255.255.255 addresses
Source-specific temporary
232.0.0.0—232.255.255.255
group addresses
Any-source group addresses for
239.0.0.0—239.255.255.255
use in private multicast domains

⚫ Common IP multicast models include the any-source multicast

(ASM) and source-specific multicast (SSM) models.

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⚫ IPv4 multicast addresses

 The IPv4 address space is divided into five classes, Class A to Class E. Class D
addresses are IPv4 multicast addresses, ranging from 224.0.0.0 to
239.255.255.255. These addresses identify multicast groups and can only be
used as destination addresses of multicast packets but not source addresses.

 Source addresses of IPv4 multicast packets are IPv4 unicast addresses, which
can be Class A, Class B or Class C addresses and cannot be Class D or Class E
addresses.

 On the network layer, all hosts that have joined the same multicast group can
identify the same IPv4 multicast group address. Once a user joins the
multicast group, the user can receive IP multicast packets with the group
address as the destination address.

⚫ Multicast service models

 ASM stands for any-source multicast. In the ASM model, any sender can be a
multicast source to send data to a multicast group address. Receiver hosts
can receive all data sent to this group after they join the group. In the ASM
model, receivers cannot obtain the location of a multicast source in advance
and can join or leave a multicast group anytime.
 Multicast MAC Address
⚫ Difference between multicast and unicast MAC addresses:

XXXX XXX1 XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

In a multicast MAC address, the last bit of the first octet is 1.

XXXX XXX0 XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

In a unicast MAC address, the last bit of the first octet is 0.

⚫ As defined by IANA, the most significant 24 bits of IPv4 multicast MAC

addresses are 0x01005e, and the 25th bit is always 0.

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⚫ The destination of a multicast data frame is not a specific receiver but a group with
unspecific members. Therefore, the destination is identified by a multicast MAC
address. As defined by IANA, the most significant 24 bits of multicast MAC
addresses are 0x01005e, and the 25th bit is always 0.

⚫ A multicast MAC address identifies receivers in the same multicast group at the
link layer.

⚫ On an Ethernet network, the destination MAC address of a unicast data frame is

the MAC address of the receiver or the next-hop router. The MAC address is
learned by using ARP. Multicast data frames also require a MAC address that can
be obtained in advance.
 Mapping Between Multicast IP and MAC
Addresses
⚫ Multicast IP and MAC addresses need to be mapped to each other
automatically.

⚫ The least significant 23 bits of a MAC address are the least significant 23
bits of a multicast IP address.
1110 XXXX X . .
XXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX . Multicast
IP address
23 bits

Multicast
01--00--5E--0 XXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. . MAC address
23 bits

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⚫ To enable multicast sources and group members to communicate, the network

must provide network-layer multicast service, which uses multicast IP addresses.
To enable multicast data to be correctly transmitted on the local physical network,
the network must provide link-layer multicast service, which uses multicast MAC
addresses. The destination address of a multicast data packet is a group with
unspecific members but not a specific receiver. Therefore, multicast IP addresses
must be mapped to multicast MAC addresses.
 Problem Caused by Address Mapping
⚫ In multicast IP-to-MAC address mapping, 32 multicast IP addresses are
mapped to one multicast MAC address.

. .
1110 XXXX X XXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX .

5 bits are lost in the mapping, so IP

addresses with the same value of the last 23
bits are mapped to the same MAC address.

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⚫ The first 4 bits of a multicast IP address are 1110, indicating a multicast address.
Among the last 28 bits, only 23 bits are mapped to multicast MAC addresses. This
means that 5 bits are lost in the mapping. As a result, 32 multicast IP addresses are
mapped to the same MAC address.

⚫ IETF believes that this will not cause much impact because there is a very low
probability that two or more group addresses in the same LAN will be mapped to
the same MAC address.
 Quiz
1. What is IPv4 multicast communication?

2. What is the range of IPv4 multicast addresses?

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⚫ Answer: IP multicast communication transmits packets from a source to a group of

receivers. Compared with unicast and broadcast transmission, IP multicast
transmission conserves network bandwidth and reduces loads on networks. IP
multicast is widely used in IPTV, real-time data transmission, and multimedia
conferencing services.

⚫ Answer: The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) assigns Class D

addresses to IPv4 multicast. An IPv4 address is 32 bits long, and the first 4 bits of a
Class D IP address are 1110. Therefore, multicast IP addresses range from 224.0.0.0
to 239.255.255.255.
Thank You
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