Real-Time In-Band Packet Loss Recovery for Reliable Multicast Protocols Utilizing Programmable Data Planes

Unicast communication is inefficient for modern networks that need to deliver the same data to multiple recipients, such as in cloud services, Internet of Things (IoT) networks, and smart city systems. Unicast causes congestion, wasted bandwidth, and poor scalability. Reliable multicast protocols address these challenges by enabling simultaneous data transmission to multiple destinations, reducing both network traffic and resource consumption. However, loss recovery remains a critical issue, as delays can significantly impact overall performance. We propose a new scheme that leverages programmable data plane-enabled switches, such as P4-enabled switches, to detect and retransmit packet losses at each switch. In this scheme, the receiving node (switch) detects lost packets in real-time and requests retransmissions from the neighboring nodes. The scheme operates transparently between source and destination hosts, making it compatible with existing networks and applicable to any network application or protocol. Simulations using ns-3 demonstrate that our scheme significantly improves the completion time of file transfers based on reliable multicast protocols in high link loss scenarios. For example, it reduces completion time by up to 36% when delivering a 1 GB file from one source to 40 sinks with a link loss rate of 0.01.