What is Broadcast?
Broadcast is a transmission mechanism that allows all network hosts to share the same communication channel. A packet sent by a host is received by all other hosts on the network in broadcast mode.
When a host broadcasts a packet, the address of the intended recipient is specified in the packet’s address field. Now that the packet has been broadcast, it is received by all of the other hosts in the network. Each host examines the packet’s address field after receiving it. If the packet contains the receiving host’s address, it is handled by the receiving host. Otherwise, the packet is disregarded.
The broadcast function can address packets to all hosts on the network. The host transmitting the packet specifies a specific code in the packet’s address field to do this. When a packet with a specific code in the address field is sent, it is received and processed by every host in the network.
An example can be used to explain broadcasting. Assume you’re giving a lecture to a class of 50 pupils. In the meantime, you call out to a pupil, “James, stand up.” Even though all of the pupils in the classroom are listening, only James will answer; the others will just ignore this message.
A common example of broadcasting is a wireless network.
What is Multicast in Networking?
What is Multicast?
Broadcasting allows packets to be sent to a group of hosts in the network, which is known as multicasting. Multicasting is a way of transmitting copies of a single packet to the group of hosts in the network who are interested in receiving the packet.
The source-to-destination relationship is one-to-many. There is just one origin and many destinations. The source address in multicasting is a unicast address, but the destination address is a group address. The group address is an address of one or more destination networks where at least one group member is interested in receiving the packet.
The network routers route the received packet across various interfaces. As shown in the diagram, the router R1 delivers the received packet via interfaces 1 and 2. Furthermore, the router R2 forwards the received packet across interfaces 1 and 2 because both networks have at least one member interested in receiving the packet. Likewise, router R3 passes the received packet via interface 2.
Nowadays, multicasting has a variety of applications. Assessing a distributed database, for example, necessitates multicasting. The information in a distributed database is kept in multiple locations. As a result, the user’s information request is broadcast to all database locations, and the site has the intended information answers.
Similarly, identical information is distributed to several customers in business, as is news distribution, teleconferencing, and distance learning.
What is Broadcast in Networking?
Difference between Broadcast and Multicast
| S.NO: | Broadcast | Multicast |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Broadcast has one sender and multiple receivers | Multicast has one or more senders and multiple receivers |
| 2 | Working based on star and bus topology. | Working based on star, mesh, tree, and hybrid topology. |
| 3 | It transfers data from one device to the other devices in the network. | It transfers data from one device to multiple devices. |
| 4 | The network generates an unnecessarily large volume of traffic. | Traffic is under control. |
| 5 | It has one-to-all mapping. | It has one-to-many mapping. |
| 6 | Its bandwidth is wasted. | It utilizes bandwidth efficiently. |
| 7 | There is no need for group management in broadcasting. | Group management is required for multicasting in order to define the group of hosts/stations that will receive packets. |
| 8 | Example of a broadcast device is Hub | Example of a multicast device is Switch |