Following the introduction of broadband access networks like FTTH (fiber to the home), many Internet service providers in Japan have started providing video distribution services using IP multicast. As the services become higher quality and more diverse, a distribution system capable of handling high bit-rate contents will be required. However, implementation of a typical distribution server may encounter problems because of the server's dependency on the timestamp embedded in the contents. We present a new transmission control method for IP multicast that is synchronized with TCP flow control and independent of the timestamp. We evaluated its validity using an experimental system transmitting HDTV (high definition TV) contents and demonstrated that the system can simultaneously distribute eight channels of HDTV.
