Content area
Abstract
The answer to getting video onto the Internet many be Internet protocol multicasting, one of a trinity of transmission paradigms. Unicasting sends a separate data stream to the desktop of everyone who requests it. Multicasting uses a special distribution protocol and dedicated routers to send out one copy of that data and circulate it selectively among routers serving only users that ask for it. No matter how many users request that data, only one packet is sent. UUNet has had its UUcast offering in place for a year and a half, permitting content providers to multicast throughout the company's dial-up network. In dial-up multicasting, the modem port serves as a proxy, keeping track of what the user is watching and telling the router to stop porting the stream when the user stops watching.