Patent ID: 7228356

Claim:
A method of managing IP multicast connections in a communications network having one or more network nodes connected to a plurality of end-user devices, comprising the steps of: (a) receiving, at a network node in the network, an IGMP Group Join message from an end-user device serviced by said network; (b) comparing, at said network node, a MAC address, obtained from the Join message, of said end-user device to another MAC address obtained from a pending Leave message for which there exists an IP multicast connection to said network node; (c) determining, at said network node, whether or not any other end-user device is listening to the multicast group of the pending Leave message; and (d) initiating, responsive to no other end-user device listening to the multicast group and responsive to a match resulting from the comparison in step (b), an Expedited Group Leave action for said end-user device on the IP multicast connection.