Patent ID: 8102870

Claim:
A method for optimizing a group management protocol, comprising: receiving, by a multicast router, an INCLUDE mode membership report or an EXCLUDE mode membership report from a group member; judging, by the multicast router, whether the currently received report carries an EXCLUDE mode non-empty source list; if the currently received report carries the EXCLUDE mode non-empty source list, processing the currently received report carrying the EXCLUDE mode non-empty source list as a non-source-specific join report and completing a non-source-specific join; if the currently received report does not carry the EXCLUDE mode non-empty source list, updating a corresponding state inside the multicast router directly with information of the currently received report; receiving, by the multicast router, a non-source-specific join report or a report carrying the EXCLUDE mode non-empty source list, wherein the group member sends an INCLUDE mode membership report that carries any source list to the multicast router to complete a non-source-specific join, or the group member sends an EXCLUDE mode membership report that carries an empty source list to the multicast router to complete a non-source-specific join; and processing, based on an INCLUDE mode, the non-source-specific join report or the report carrying the EXCLUDE mode non-empty source list.