Patent ID: 7260716

Claim:
A method for managing addition and deletion of network nodes from and to a secure multicast or broadcast group of network nodes in a communications network without a single point of failure, wherein each of the network nodes is associated with one of a plurality of group controllers, wherein each group controller of the plurality of group controllers is a replica of a particular group controller, and wherein the network nodes and the plurality of group controllers are logically organized in a binary tree that represents the network nodes and the plurality of group controllers, in which leaf nodes of the binary tree represent network nodes that are joining or leaving the secure multicast or broadcast group, intermediate nodes represent other network nodes, and root nodes represent the plurality of group controllers, the method comprising the steps of: joining a first group controller to the plurality of group controllers in a local network; establishing a secure communication channel between the first group controller and a second group controller of the plurality of group controllers using a key exchange protocol; receiving a request to add or delete a network node of the secure multicast or broadcast group from a load balancer that is coupled to the plurality of group controllers; creating and storing a new group session key for each network node represented in each branch of the binary tree that is affected by adding or deleting the network node from the secure multicast or broadcast group; and distributing a group session key from a third group controller of the plurality of group controllers to the network nodes.