Patent ID: 8570929

Claim:
A relay apparatus for forwarding a received multicast frame to a communication apparatus at a specified communication rate, comprising: an access point determiner that determines whether or not the communication apparatus can utilize a unicast frame that is converted from the received multicast frame, based on a specified condition that includes a transmission available condition, and wherein the access point determiner estimates a duration required for the transmission of the converted unicast frame and determines whether or not the estimated duration is within an available range for transmission by the relay apparatus; an access point prohibiter that prohibits a conversion of the multicast frame to the unicast frame when the access point determiner negates the availability; and an access point unicast forwarder that executes the conversion, that sets a relatively higher communication rate than the specified communication rate, and that forwards the converted unicast frame to the communication apparatus at the relatively higher communication rate; wherein the access point determiner includes: an access point acquirer that obtains information which represents the presence of a function of receiving the converted unicast frame from the communication apparatus, and transferring the received unicast frame to the application; and the specified condition includes a functional condition that the communication apparatus has the specific function.