This book provides a concise guide to current IP Multicast technology and its applications, with a focus on IP-based Television (IPTV) and Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H) applications—areas of tremendous commercial interest. Traditional phone companies can use IP Multicast technology to deliver video services over their networks; cell phone companies can use it to stream video to handheld phones and PDAs; and many cable TV companies are considering upgrading to IP technology. In addition to applications in industries seeking to provide high-quality digital video and audio, there are numerous other practical uses: multi-site corporate videoconferencing; broad distribution of financial data, stock quotes, and news bulletins; database replication; software distribution; and content caching (for example, Web site caching).

After an introduction that gets readers up to speed on the basics, IP Multicast with Applications to IPTV and Mobile DVB-H:

• Discusses multicast addressing for payload and payload forwarding

• Covers routing in a variety of protocols, including PIM-SM, CBT, PIM-DM, DVMRP, and MOSPF

• Discusses multicasting in IPv6 environments and Multicast Listener Discovery (MLD)

• Features examples of IP Multicast applications in the IPTV and mobile DVB-H environments

• Includes reference RFCs and protocols placed in the proper context of a commercial-grade infrastructure for the delivery of robust, entertainment-quality linear and nonlinear video programming

This is a concise, compact reference for practitioners who seek a quick, practical review of the topic with an emphasis on the major and most often used aspects of the technology. It serves as a hands-on resource for engineers in the communications industry or Internet design, content providers, and researchers. It's also an excellent text for college courses on IP Multicast and/or IPTV.