Patent ID: 8750168
Filing Date: 2014-06-10
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: receiving, by a server, a request to add a first node to a membership tree including a first plurality of nodes associated with a multicast group; identifying, by the server, a second node in the first plurality of nodes, wherein the first and second nodes are separated from each other by at least one other node of the first plurality of nodes, wherein identifying the second node includes identifying a sub-tree including a second plurality of nodes that includes the second node and the first node; identifying, by the server, a third plurality of nodes included in the first and second plurality of nodes that are respectively associated with node identifiers used to forward multicast traffic over the membership tree for the multicast group; and communicating, by the server, a node identifier that identifies the first node over a network to the second node, wherein the communicating is responsive to comparing a count of the number of nodes in the third plurality of nodes to a threshold, wherein the node identifier is stored at the second node to add the first node to the membership tree, and wherein the node identifier is further stored in the membership tree to enable the second node to forward multicast traffic to the first node; wherein the first node is associated with a multicast member that has been added to the multicast group, wherein the multicast member is stored in a database that is managed by a device that communicates over the network with the first node, and wherein the first plurality of nodes are included in a base tree that includes a fourth plurality of nodes, wherein the base tree is a k-ary tree, wherein the fourth plurality of nodes are respectively associated with a plurality of logical router identifiers that are generated based on a multicast group identifier associated with the multicast group.