Simulation and Analysis of Multicast Traffic through IGMP: A Comparative Study with Physical Network Measurements

Abstract

Multicast transmission is a fundamental mechanism used to deliver content to multiple receivers/users and is still an essential method in television broadcasting services and data distribution networks. Efficient management of multicast traffic has a direct impact on bandwidth consumption and helps to prevent network congestion, especially during high-demand periods that are common in the broadcasting industry. This article investigates the effectiveness of the Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) on optimizing the multicast traffic and the utilization of resources by creating a representative simulated network in Cisco Modeling Labs (CML), based on previous experiments and extended versions of them that are carried out on physical devices. The simulated model allows the evaluation and monitoring of two key performance metrics, including bit rate and packet rate, for two operating conditions: case one, with IGMP enabled, and case two, with IGMP disabled. Results show an average of 79.4% reduction in forwarded multicast traffic on active ports when IGMP is enabled, and a 4.85× increase in bandwidth usage when IGMP is disabled. These results confirm how much control IGMP provides in reducing unnecessary data replication and its direct impact on improving network efficiency. The alignment between the simulated and real-world results strengthens the reliability of the results. The combined evidence provides a solid foundation for understanding the role of IGMP in controlling and improving multicast traffic by offering practical guidance for designing and implementing multicast communication systems in networking and broadcasting domains.