Patent ID: 7548966

Claim:
A multi-layer user management method implemented by a computer for multicasting proxy, comprising: dividing a user management for multicasting groups into three layers: management at an interface layer for controlling multicasting characteristics corresponding to interfaces, management at a data link layer for controlling multicasting characteristics corresponding to data links, and management at user layer for controlling multicasting characteristics corresponding to particular users, and at each layer, setting control blocks that respectively comprise multicasting characteristic data corresponding to said each layer; establishing a data relationship among the three layers of control blocks; and controlling a network device to manage a user of a group of the multicasting groups using the data relationship among the three layers of control blocks including: finding a first interface layer control block according to a data structure of an interface of net (IFNET) that has received a multicasting packet; then judging multicasting characteristics of the multicasting groups which are defined in the found interface layer control block to determine whether to continue successive processing; if so, performing the next steps, otherwise ending; finding a first data link layer control block according to a data relationship between data link layer control blocks and the first interface layer control block; then judging multicasting characteristics corresponding to data links of the multicasting packet to determine whether to continue successive processing; if so, performing the next step, otherwise ending; and finding a first user layer control block according to a multicasting group IP and user attributes; then adding, deleting or modifying corresponding user information in the first user layer control block.