Patent ID: 8942167
Filing Date: 2015-01-27
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method for seamless Internet Protocol (IP) multicast stream transfer, the method comprising: receiving a report identifying a roaming mobile unit that has roamed from a first Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) to a second VLAN, the report further identifying the first VLAN as a VLAN that the roaming mobile unit has roamed from, the roaming mobile unit being a member of a mobility VLAN, the roaming mobile unit receiving a multicast stream as part of a multicast group from a multicast server in the mobility VLAN; updating a first multicast forwarding database (MFDB) to include an entry for the roaming mobile unit; forwarding the report to a first mobility switch in the first VLAN over a mobility tunnel constructed to the first mobility switch in the first VLAN; said first mobility switch updating a second MFDB at the VLAN server mobility switch to include said mobility tunnel constructed to the VLAN server mobility switch and forwarding the report from the VLAN server mobility switch to a multicast router in the mobility VLAN; receiving the multicast stream over the mobility tunnel from the first mobility switch in the first VLAN; and forwarding the multicast stream toward the roaming mobile unit in the second VLAN so that transfer of the multicast stream from the first VLAN to the second VLAN is seamless.