Patent ID: 7590116

Claim:
A method for forwarding multicast message in network communication comprising: a. establishing a forwarding match condition at an ingress interface of a network device required to forward multicast message, the forwarding match condition specifying a multicast message forwarding rule designated by a user for multicast message independently of a multicast routing forwarding table, the multicast message forwarding rule having a message forwarding destination specified therein; b. comparing a multicast message which enters the network device through the interface and needs to be forwarded with the established forwarding match condition; c. forwarding the multicast message according to the comparing result, wherein said step c comprises: c1. determining whether there is a multicast message forwarding rule matching information carried by the multicast message in the forwarding match condition; c2. if there is a multicast message forwarding rule matching the information carried by the multicast message in the forwarding match condition, forwarding the multicast message according to the multicast message forwarding rule; c3. if no multicast message forwarding rule in the forwarding match condition matches the information carried by the multicast message, forwarding the multicast message according to a multicast routing forwarding table.