Efficient light-weight multicasting communication protocol

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory data storage medium having logic code embedded thereon, wherein the execution of the logic code on a computer causes the computer to:

• transmit a first data packet in a send queue to a plurality of receiving units in a first set;
• receive one or more acknowledgement messages (ACKs) from one or more of the plurality of receiving units in a second set, wherein the second set is a subset of the first set;
• remove the first data packet from the send queue, in response to receiving at least one ACK from N receiving units from the plurality of receiving units within a time threshold;
• re-transmit the first data packet from the send queue to the plurality of receiving units in the first set, in response to failing to receive at least one ACK from the N receiving units within the time threshold;
• and
• control number of ACKs sent by the plurality of receiving units in the first set to increase network reliability by:
• adding one or more receiving units to the second set, in response to receiving less than a threshold number of ACKs from said N receiving units in said time threshold;
• or
• replacing one or more receiving units in the second set, in response to determining that the receiving units do not meet a reliability threshold.

A system comprising:

• one or more processors in communication with one or more data storage mediums, including a send queue, for monitoring efficient multicasting in a communication network comprising a plurality of sending and receiving units;
• a logic unit for transmitting a first data packet in a send queue to a plurality of receiving units in a first set;
• a logic unit for receiving one or more acknowledgement messages (ACKs) from one or more of the plurality of receiving units in a second set, wherein the second set is a subset of the first set;
• a logic unit for removing the first data packet from the send queue, in response to receiving at least one ACK from N receiving units from the plurality of receiving units within a time threshold;
• a logic unit for re-transmitting the first data packet from the send queue to the plurality of receiving units in the first set, in response to failing to receive at least one ACK from the N receiving units within the time threshold;
• and
• a logic unit for controlling number of ACKs sent by the plurality of receiving units in the first set to increase network reliability by:
• adding one or more receiving units to the second set, in response to receiving less than a threshold number of ACKs from said N receiving units in said time threshold;
• or replacing one or more receiving units in the second set, in response to determining that the receiving units do not meet a reliability threshold.