Patent ID: 8230092

Claim:
A method of operating a network device comprising: receiving a multicast packet at a forwarding engine; selecting a disposition of the received packet based on a plurality of multicast operation flags in a forwarding table, wherein said forwarding engine is unaware of multicast protocol state and entries in the forwarding table are controlled by a control plane processor; based on examination of one or more of said multicast operation flags, signaling from said forwarding engine to said control plane processor to facilitate maintenance of said multicast protocol state at said control plane processor; and updating the forwarding table by said control plane processor in response to said signaling from said forwarding engine, wherein updating the forwarding table comprises setting or clearing one or more of said multicast operation flags at the forwarding table; wherein said forwarding engine and said control plane processor are modularly distinct from one another and interact via modification and monitoring of the forwarding table, said control plane processor configured to maintain awareness of said multicast protocol state without handling the multicast packet; and wherein the control plane processor sets and clears selected ones of said multicast operation flags to filter signaling from said forwarding engine to said control plane processor.