Protocol for multicasting in a low bandwidth network
First Claim
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1. A system, comprising:
- a computing device configured to facilitate the transport of multicast traffic in a first network, the first network being a low bandwidth multi-hop network having at least one interface to a second network that is configured to transport multicast traffic according to a protocol independent multicast (PIM) routing protocol;
wherein the first network operates according to a modified protocol independent multicast (M-PIM) routing protocol that includes at least one modification of PIM, the modification being an optimization for low bandwidth multi-hop networks;
whereby the first network operates as a transit network for the second network to facilitate the transport of multicast traffic; and
wherein the at least one modification is a modification to PIM dense mode (PIM-DM) and wherein the at least one modification comprises a specification for group-independent ASSERT messages, thereby reducing the bandwidth consumed by group-specific ASSERT messages in the first network;
orwherein the first network includes multiple entry points and the at least one modification comprises a specification for electing a single entry point to the first network based exclusively on the use of JOIN/PRUNE messages, thereby reducing the consumption of bandwidth in the first network.
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Abstract
A modified protocol independent multicast (M-PIM) routing protocol is an improvement to protocol independent multicast (PIM) routing protocol. M-PIM is optimized for use with at least one low bandwidth multi-hop network. The improvement comprises at least one modification to PIM that facilitates the transport of multicast traffic in a multi-layer routing system.
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Citations
86 Claims
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1. A system, comprising:
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a computing device configured to facilitate the transport of multicast traffic in a first network, the first network being a low bandwidth multi-hop network having at least one interface to a second network that is configured to transport multicast traffic according to a protocol independent multicast (PIM) routing protocol; wherein the first network operates according to a modified protocol independent multicast (M-PIM) routing protocol that includes at least one modification of PIM, the modification being an optimization for low bandwidth multi-hop networks; whereby the first network operates as a transit network for the second network to facilitate the transport of multicast traffic; and wherein the at least one modification is a modification to PIM dense mode (PIM-DM) and wherein the at least one modification comprises a specification for group-independent ASSERT messages, thereby reducing the bandwidth consumed by group-specific ASSERT messages in the first network;
orwherein the first network includes multiple entry points and the at least one modification comprises a specification for electing a single entry point to the first network based exclusively on the use of JOIN/PRUNE messages, thereby reducing the consumption of bandwidth in the first network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium tangibly embodying computer-executable instructions including instructions for:
facilitating the transport of non-transitory multicast traffic in a multi-layer routing system that comprises; a first network layer that operates according to a multicast routing protocol; a second network layer that operates according to a modified protocol independent multicast (M-PIM) routing protocol that includes at least one modification of protocol independent multicast (PIM) routing the modification being an optimization for a low bandwidth multi-hop network; and wherein the at least one modification is a modification to PIM dense mode (PIM-DM) and wherein the at least one modification includes a specification for group-independent ASSERT messages, thereby reducing the bandwidth consumed by group-specific ASSERT messages in the first network;
orwherein the at least one low bandwidth multi-hop network includes multiple entry points and the at least one modification includes a specification for electing a single entry point to the at least one network based exclusively on the use of JOIN/PRUNE messages, thereby reducing the consumption of bandwidth in the first network layer. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A system for transporting multicast data traffic, the system comprising:
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a first network that facilitates the transport of multicast traffic, the first network operating according to a modified protocol independent multicast protocol (M-PIM), the M-PIM comprising at least one modification to protocol independent multicast (PIM) that facilitates the transport of multicast traffic; at least one network interface; a second network that is connected to the first network via the interface and that is configured to transport multicast traffic according to PIM; whereby the first network operates as a transit network for the second network to facilitate the transport of multicast traffic; and wherein the at least one modification is a modification to PIM dense mode (PIM-DM) and wherein the at least one modification comprises a specification for group-independent ASSERT messages, thereby reducing the bandwidth consumed by group-specific ASSERT messages in the first network;
orwherein the first network includes multiple entry points and the at least one modification comprises a specification for electing a single entry point to the first network based exclusively on the use of JOIN/PRUNE messages, thereby reducing the consumption of bandwidth in the first network. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A method for transporting multicast data traffic in a first network and a second network, the method comprising the steps of:
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transporting the multicast traffic in the first network according to a modified protocol independent multicast protocol (M-PIM), said M-PIM comprising at least one modification to protocol independent multicast (PIM) that facilitates the transport of multicast traffic; transporting the multicast traffic from the first network to the second network via at least one network interface; transporting the multicast traffic in the second network according to PIM; and wherein the at least one modification is a modification to PIM dense mode (PIM-DM) and wherein the at least one modification comprises a specification for group-independent ASSERT messages, thereby reducing the bandwidth consumed by group-specific ASSERT messages in the first network;
orwherein the first network includes multiple entry points and the at least one modification comprises a specification for electing a single entry point to the first network based exclusively on the use of JOIN/PRUNE messages, thereby reducing the consumption of bandwidth in the first network. - View Dependent Claims (53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68)
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69. A system for transporting multicast data traffic, the system comprising:
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a router; at least one first link connecting the router to at least one first device configured to receive the multicast traffic according to a protocol independent multicast (PIM); and at least one second link connecting the router to at least one second device configured to receive data packets according to at least one modification of PIM (M-PIM) wherein the at least one first link operates according to a modified protocol independent multicast (M-PIM) routing protocol that includes at least one modification of PIM, the modification being an optimization for low bandwidth multi-hop networks; and wherein the at least one modification is a modification to PIM dense mode (PIM-DM) and wherein the at least one modification comprises a specification for group-independent ASSERT messages, thereby reducing the bandwidth consumed by group-specific ASSERT messages in the at least one first link;
orwherein the first network includes multiple entry points and the at least one modification comprises a specification for electing a single entry point to the at least one first link based exclusively on the use of JOIN/PRUNE messages, thereby reducing the consumption of bandwidth in the at least one first link. - View Dependent Claims (70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77)
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78. A method for supporting the transport of multicast traffic across multiple networks, the method comprising the steps of:
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generating, in a first network, a request to join a group that receives multicast traffic from a source; sending the request to a second network; receiving the request in the second network; recording, in the second network, a membership state upon receiving the request; wherein said first network is configured to transport the multicast traffic according to protocol independent multicast (PIM), and said second network is configured to transport multicast traffic according to a modified protocol independent multicast protocol (M-PIM), said M-PIM comprising at least one modification to protocol independent multicast (PIM) that facilitates the transport of multicast traffic; and wherein the at least one modification is a modification to PIM dense mode (PIM-DM) and wherein the at least one modification comprises a specification for group-independent ASSERT messages, thereby reducing the bandwidth consumed by group-specific ASSERT messages in the first network;
orwherein the first network includes multiple entry points and the at least one modification comprises a specification for electing a single entry point to the first network based exclusively on the use of JOIN/PRUNE messages, thereby reducing the consumption of bandwidth in the first network. - View Dependent Claims (79, 80)
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81. A method for supporting the transport of multicast traffic in a multi-layer network environment, the method comprising the steps of:
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generating, in a first network layer, a request to join a group that receives multicast traffic from a source; sending the request to a second network layer; receiving the request in the second network layer; and recording, in the second network layer, a membership state upon receiving the request; wherein said first network layer is configured to transport the multicast traffic according to a multicast routing protocol, and said second network layer is configured to transport multicast traffic according to a modified protocol independent multicast protocol (M-PIM), said M-PIM comprising at least one modification to protocol independent multicast (PIM) that facilitates the transport of multicast traffic; wherein each of the first network layer and the second network layer includes at least two nodes; and wherein the at least one modification is a modification to PIM dense mode (PIM-DM) and wherein the at least one modification comprises a specification for group-independent ASSERT messages, thereby reducing the bandwidth consumed by group-specific ASSERT messages in the first network layer;
orwherein the first network layer includes multiple entry points and the at least one modification comprises a specification for electing a single entry point to the first network layer based exclusively on the use of JOIN/PRUNE messages, thereby reducing the consumption of bandwidth in the first network layer. - View Dependent Claims (82, 83)
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84. A method for supporting the transport of multicast traffic in a multi-layer network environment, the method comprising the steps of:
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generating, in a first network layer, a request to join a group that receives multicast traffic from a source; sending the request to a second network layer; receiving the request in the second network layer; and recording, in the second network layer, a membership state upon receiving the request; wherein said first network layer is configured to transport multicast traffic according to a modified protocol independent multicast protocol (M-PIM), said M-PIM comprising at least one modification to protocol independent multicast (PIM) that facilitates the transport of multicast traffic; and
said second network layer is configured to transport multicast traffic according to a multicast routing protocol;wherein each of the first network layer and the second network layer includes at least two nodes; and wherein the at least one modification is a modification to PIM dense mode (PIM-DM) and wherein the at least one modification comprises a specification for group-independent ASSERT messages, thereby reducing the bandwidth consumed by group-specific ASSERT messages in the first network layer;
orwherein the first network layer includes multiple entry points and the at least one modification comprises a specification for electing a single entry point to the first network layer based exclusively on the use of JOIN/PRUNE messages, thereby reducing the consumption of bandwidth in the first network layer. - View Dependent Claims (85, 86)
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Specification