Patent ID: 7801068

Claim:
A method for use in a multicast environment comprising the steps of: at a controller device: registering a plurality of channels each used to communicate at least one data feed to a multicast group; registering a plurality of clients, wherein the registering includes determining a set of parameters for each client; determining a plurality of client groups based on the set of parameters of each client, and for each client group assigning a subset of the registered channels; for each registered client and using the parameters determined during the registering, categorizing the registered client into one of the client groups and communicating to the registered client the subset of registered channels assigned to the client group, wherein the subset of registered channels communicated to the registered client include only those data feeds that the registered client has at least one of resources or capabilities to receive; detecting a modification of the set of parameters for at least one registered client; determining whether to re-categorize the at least one registered client into a different client group; and upon re-categorizing the at least one registered client, communicating an updated corresponding assigned subset of the registered channels.