Methods for managing multicast traffic between sources sending data and hosts requesting data and network equipment used to implement the methods

Abstract

A device, system and method for controlling the flow of multicast data packets from sources sending data to hosts requesting the data. In one implementation, a router is situated in a data network between sources that send multicast data packets directed to a multicast group and hosts requesting to receive the multicast data packets. The router has one or more network interfaces in the direction of the hosts and stores for each network interface, each multicast group address and each host at least one data record arising from one or more data requests made by the hosts which includes multicast group and source information. The router stores executable instructions to receive messages originating from a host, update the status of the data sources for that host and implement the actions according to one or a combination of Tables 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 disclosed herein.

1 . A multicast router having one or more downstream network interfaces and situated in a data network system between sources that send multicast packets to one or more multicast group addresses and one or more hosts that request data from the one or more multicast group addresses and the sources, the multicast router storing executable instructions to read at least a portion of the information contained in one or more data requests made by the one or more hosts that requests multicast data from a multicast group address and to store for each downstream network interface, each multicast group address and each of the one or more hosts at least one record derived from the one or more data requests made by the one or more hosts which include multicast group address and source address information, the multicast router storing executable instructions to update the at least one record and implement the actions according to one of the processes of Table 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7. 
     
     
         2 . A multicast router according to  claim 1 , wherein the multicast router communicates with the one or more hosts via a communications protocol based on the IGMP or the MLD protocol. 
     
     
         3 . A multicast router according to  claim 1 , wherein the multicast router uses a protocol based on the PIM protocol to request the multicast data sent by the sources. 
     
     
         4 . A multicast router according to  claim 1 , wherein the multicast router communicates with the hosts via a communications protocol based on the IGMP or the MLD protocol and wherein the router uses a protocol based on the PIM protocol to request the multicast data sent by the sources. 
     
     
         5 . A multicast router according to  claim 1 , wherein the data request of a host separately contains INCLUDE filter mode source lists of a multicast group address, indicating that a host wishes to receive data sent by the INCLUDE sources and EXCLUDE filter mode source lists of a multicast group address, indicating that the host wishes to receive data sent by all the sources of the multicast group except the EXCLUDE sources. 
     
     
         6 . A multicast router according to  claim 1 , wherein the multicast router communicates with the one or more hosts via a router-host communication protocol and stores for each downstream network interface, each multicast group address and each of the one or more hosts an INCLUDE source record and an EXCLUDE source record, the INCLUDE source record containing the union of all the source lists requested from each of the one or more hosts and the EXCLUDE source record containing the intersection of all the exclude source lists requested from each of the one or more hosts. 
     
     
         7 . A multicast router according to  claim 1 , wherein the multicast router communicates with the one or more hosts via a router-host communication protocol and stores for each downstream network interface, each multicast group address and each of the one or more hosts only one INCLUDE source record and only one EXCLUDE source record, the INCLUDE source record containing the union of all the source lists requested from each of the one or more hosts and the EXCLUDE source record containing the intersection of all the exclude source lists requested from each of the one or more hosts. 
     
     
         8 . A multicast router according to  claim 1 , wherein the multicast router stores executable instructions for analyzing the information contained in the at least one record and, based on the information, limiting the multicast data the router transmits to one or more of the hosts. 
     
     
         9 . A router according to  claim 1  wherein the router stores executable instructions for analyzing the information contained in the at least one record and, based on the information, adjusting the multicast bandwidth which the router has available for distributing among the various hosts. 
     
     
         10 . A multicast router according to  claim 1 , wherein the multicast router stores a first record derived from a first data request made by a first host which includes multicast group address and source address information and second record derived from a second data request made by a second host which includes multicast group address and source address information, the multicast router storing executable instructions to (a) read at least a portion of the information contained in the first data request made by the first host that requests multicast data from a first multicast group address and at least a portion of the information contained in the second data request made by the second host that requests multicast data from a second multicast group address, (b) update the status of the sources of the first record for the first multicast group address and the first host and implement the actions according to one of the processes of Table 1, and (c) update the status of the sources of the second record for the second multicast group address and the second host and implement the actions according to one of the processes of Table 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7. 
     
     
         11 . A multicast router according to  claim 10 , wherein the first multicast group address and the second multicast group address are the same. 
     
     
         12 . A multicast router according to  claim 1 , wherein the multicast router stores a first record derived from a first data request made by a first host which includes multicast group address and source address information and second record derived from a second data request made by a second host which includes multicast group address and source address information, the multicast router storing executable instructions to (a) read at least a portion of the information contained in the first data request made by the first host that requests multicast data from a first multicast group address and at least a portion of the information contained in the second data request made by the second host that requests multicast data from a second multicast group address, (b) update the status of the sources of the first record for the first multicast group address and first host and implement the actions according to a first process of Table 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 and, (c) update the status of the sources of the second record for the second multicast group address and second host and implement the actions according to one of a second process of Table 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, the second process being from a Table different the first process and being different from the first process. 
     
     
         13 . A multicast router according to  claim 12 , wherein the first multicast group address and the second multicast group address are the same. 
     
     
         14 . A multicast router according to  claim 1 , wherein the multicast router stores executable instructions to (a) read at least a portion of the information of a data request made by a host that requests multicast data from a first multicast group address included in a first type of message and a portion of the information of a data request made by a host that requests multicast data from a multicast group address included in a second type of message, (b) update the status of the data sources of the at least one record for the multicast group address and host and implement the actions according to one of a first process of Table 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 based on the first type of message, and (c) update the status of the data sources of the at least one record for the multicast group address and host and implement the actions according to one of a second process of Table 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 based on the second type of message, the second process being from a Table different the first process and being different from the first process. 
     
     
         15 . A multicast router according to  claim 14 , wherein the first and second types of messages are one of a IS_IN(Z), IS_EX(Z), TO_IN(Z), TO_EX(Z), ALLOW(Z) or BLOCK(Z) type message. 
     
     
         16 . A multicast router having one or more downstream network interfaces and situated in a data network system between sources that send multicast packets to one or more multicast group addresses and one or more hosts that request data from the one or more multicast group addresses and the sources, the multicast router storing executable instructions for reading at least a portion of the information contained in one or more data requests made by the one or more hosts that requests multicast data from a multicast group address and for storing for each downstream network interface, each multicast group address and each of the one or more hosts at least one record derived from the one or more data requests made by the one or more hosts which include multicast group address and source address information, the multicast router storing executable instructions to update the at least one record and implement the actions according to one of the processes of Table 6 or Table 7. 
     
     
         17 . A multicast router according to  claim 16 , wherein the multicast router communicates with the one or more hosts via a communications protocol based on the IGMP or the MLD protocol. 
     
     
         18 . A multicast router according to  claim 16 , wherein the multicast router uses a protocol based on the PIM protocol to request the multicast data sent by the sources. 
     
     
         19 . A multicast router according to  claim 16 , wherein the multicast router communicates with the hosts via a communications protocol based on the IGMP or the MLD protocol and wherein the router uses a protocol based on the PIM protocol to request the multicast data sent by the sources. 
     
     
         20 . A multicast router according to  claim 16 , wherein the data request of a host separately contains INCLUDE filter mode source lists of a multicast group address, indicating that a host wishes to receive data sent by the INCLUDE sources and EXCLUDE filter mode source lists of a multicast group address, indicating that the host wishes to receive data sent by all the sources of the multicast group except the EXCLUDE sources. 
     
     
         21 . A multicast router according to  claim 16 , wherein the multicast router communicates with the one or more hosts via a router-host communication protocol and stores for each downstream network interface, each multicast group address and each of the one or more hosts an INCLUDE source record and an EXCLUDE source record, the INCLUDE source record containing the union of all the source lists requested from each of the one or more hosts and the EXCLUDE source record containing the intersection of all the exclude source lists requested from each of the one or more hosts. 
     
     
         22 . A multicast router according to  claim 16 , wherein the multicast router communicates with the one or more hosts via a router-host communication protocol and stores for each downstream network interface, each multicast group address and each of the one or more hosts only one INCLUDE source record and only one EXCLUDE source record, the INCLUDE source record containing the union of all the source lists requested from each of the one or more hosts and the EXCLUDE source record containing the intersection of all the exclude source lists requested from each of the one or more hosts. 
     
     
         23 . A multicast router according to  claim 16 , wherein the multicast router stores executable instructions for analyzing the information contained in the at least one record and, based on the information, limiting the multicast data the router transmits to one or more of the hosts. 
     
     
         24 . A router according to  claim 16  wherein the router stores executable instructions for analyzing the information contained in the at least one record and, based on the information, adjusting the multicast bandwidth which the router has available for distributing among the various hosts. 
     
     
         25 . A multicast router having one or more downstream network interfaces and situated in a data network system between sources that send multicast packets to one or more multicast group addresses and one or more hosts that request data from the one or more multicast group addresses and the sources, the multicast router storing for a downstream network interface and a multicast group address at least one INCLUDE source record containing information about include source lists derived by data requests made by the one or more hosts and at least one EXCLUDE source record containing information about exclude source lists derived by data requests made by the one or more hosts, the multicast router using a host-router multicast routing protocol based on the IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol) or the MLD (Multicast Listener Discovery) protocol to communicate with the one or more hosts and a router-router multicast routing protocol to communicate with at least one other multicast router situated between itself and the sources, the multicast router transmitting for the downstream network interface and each multicast group address multicast packets to the hosts based on the information of the at least one INCLUDE source record and the at least one EXCLUDE source record, the multicast router storing executable instructions to read at least a portion of the information contained in a data request made by a host that requests multicast data from a multicast group address and to update the status of the sources for the multicast group address and the host and implement the actions according to one of the processes of Tables 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7. 
     
     
         26 . A multicast router according to  claim 25 , wherein the router-router multicast routing is based on the PIM protocol. 
     
     
         27 . A multicast router according to  claim 25 , wherein the multicast router stores executable instructions for analyzing the information contained in the INCLUDE and EXCLUDE source records and, based on the information, limiting the multicast data the router transmits to one or more of the hosts. 
     
     
         28 . A multicast router according to  claim 25 , wherein the multicast router executable instructions for analyzing the information contained in the records and, based on the information, adjusting the multicast bandwidth which the switch has available for distributing among the various hosts. 
     
     
         29 . A multicast router according to  claim 25 , wherein the multicast router stores executable instructions to (a) read at least a portion of the information contained in a data request made by a first host that requests multicast data from a first multicast group address and a portion of the information contained in a data request made by a second host that requests multicast data from a second multicast group address, (b) update the status of the sources for the first multicast group address and first host and implement the actions according to one of the processes of Table 1, and (c) update the status of the sources for the second multicast group address and second host and implement the actions according to one of the processes of Table 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7. 
     
     
         30 . A multicast router according to  claim 29  wherein the first multicast group address and the second multicast group address are the same. 
     
     
         31 . A multicast router according to  claim 25 , wherein the multicast router stores executable instructions to (a) read at least a portion of the information contained in a data request made by a first host that requests multicast data from a first multicast group address and a portion of the information contained in a data request made by a second host that requests multicast data from a second multicast group address, (b) update the status of the sources for the first multicast group address and first host and implement the actions according to a first process of Table 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 and, (c) update the status of the sources for the second multicast group address and second host and implement the actions according to one of a second process of Table 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, the second process being from a Table different the first process and being different from the first process. 
     
     
         32 . A multicast router according to  claim 31  wherein the first multicast group address and the second multicast group address are the same. 
     
     
         33 . A multicast router according to  claim 25 , wherein the multicast router stores executable instructions to (a) read at least a portion of the information of a data request made by a host that requests multicast data from a first multicast group address included in a first type of message and a portion of the information of a data request made by a host that requests multicast data from a multicast group address included in a second type of message, (b) update the status of the data sources for the multicast group address and host and implement the actions according to one of a first process of Table 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 based on the first type of message, and (c) update the status of the data sources for the multicast group address and host and implement the actions according to one of a second process of Table 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 based on the second type of message, the second process being from a Table different the first process and being different from the first process. 
     
     
         34 . A multicast router according to  claim 33 , wherein the first and second types of messages are one of a IS_IN(Z), IS_EX(Z), TO_IN(Z), TO_EX(Z), ALLOW(Z) or BLOCK(Z) type message. 
     
     
         35 . A multicast router having one or more downstream network interfaces and situated in a data network system between sources that send multicast packets to one or more multicast group addresses and one or more hosts that request data from the one or more multicast group addresses and the sources, the multicast router storing for a downstream network interface and a multicast group address at least one INCLUDE source record containing information about include source lists derived by data requests made by the one or more hosts and at least one EXCLUDE source record containing information about exclude source lists derived by data requests made by the one or more hosts, the multicast router using a host-router multicast routing protocol based on the IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol) or the MLD (Multicast Listener Discovery) protocol to communicate with the one or more hosts and a router-router multicast routing protocol to communicate with at least one other multicast router situated between itself and the sources, the multicast router transmitting for the downstream network interface and each multicast group address multicast packets to the hosts based on the information of the at least one INCLUDE source record and the at least one EXCLUDE source record, the multicast router storing executable instructions for reading at least a portion of the information contained in a data request made by a host that requests multicast data from a multicast group address and for updating the status of the sources for the multicast group address and the host and implement the actions according to one of the processes of Table 6 or Table 7. 
     
     
         36 . A multicast router according to  claim 35 , wherein the router-router multicast routing protocol is a based on the PIM protocol. 
     
     
         37 . A multicast router according to  claim 35 , wherein the multicast router stores executable instructions for analyzing the information contained in the INCLUDE and EXCLUDE source records and, based on the information, limiting the multicast data the router transmits to one or more of the hosts. 
     
     
         38 . A multicast router according to  claim 35  wherein the multicast router executable instructions for analyzing the information contained in the records and, based on the information, adjusting the multicast bandwidth which the switch has available for distributing among the various hosts.