Multicast routing based on ant algorithm for delay-bounded and load-balancing traffic

Multicast routing is to find the paths from a source node to all multicast destinations. In this paper based on the ant algorithm, we propose a distributed multicast routing scheme with delay-bounded and load-balancing traffic in real-time packet switched computer communication networks. We first describe the ant algorithm model and give the ant-network model, then present an approach using the ant algorithm to optimize the multicast routes with delay-bounded and load-balancing traffic. Finally a simulation has been done to show the efficiency of the algorithm in the environment of OPNET simulation software, and the simulation results show that the proposed approach can find the best optimal multicast routes which can satisfy the delay-bounded requirement and avoid to congested nodes.