Simulating Multicast Transport Protocols in Estelle

State of the art multicast research points to a future architecture in which multicast transport protocols provide end-to-end control over the IP multicast datagram service, similar to TCP/IP. However, many aspects of these protocols are still to be resolved, and are active areas of research. We present a simulation architecture for applying the Formal Description Technique Estelle to the development of multicast transport protocols. A key component of this architecture is the IP network (IPN) module, which is the focus of this paper. The IPN module reproduces complex medium behaviours specific to multicast transport protocols and not provided by existing IP medium models, including: IGMP services, network heterogeneity, address-based routing, and multicast delivery. The sophistication of the IPN module presents a realistic simulation environment for the formal investigation of multicast transport protocols. The module has in addition been designed to be independent of the upper-layer protocol being investigated, and as such presents a re-usable component for the simulation of any IP-based protocols.