6. Conclusion

Receiver-initiated MPLS P2MP trees, based on MPLS traffic engineering functions, represent a promising evolution of current broadcast techniques.

Combining the dynamic characteristics of multicast transmission with the robustness of MPLS infrastructures should enable operators of IPTV or IP videoconferencing services not only to improve the level of quality associated with the provision of these services (thanks to the strict guarantees of availability provided by the RSVP protocol mechanism), but also to facilitate the procedures for configuring and operating these trees (thanks to the processes of grafting and cutting the terminal branches of the tree automated by the multicast signaling emitted by the receivers).

Although still in its infancy, the standardization work begun over a year ago will lead to the implementation of the first...