Patent ID: 8605727

Claim:
A network switch comprising: a memory configured to store a bridge table, wherein the bridge table is used to bridge a first network and a second network, and wherein the network switch is configured to communicate with the first network and the second network; and a controller configured to determine whether an Ethernet packet received by the network switch from the first network or the second network is (i) an Internet Protocol (IP) multicast packet, or (ii) a media access control (MAC) multicast packet that does not encapsulate an IP multicast packet; in response to the Ethernet packet being an IP multicast packet, generate a first key based on an IP multicast destination address and an IP source address associated with the Ethernet packet, lookup a first entry in the bridge table using the first key, and flood the Ethernet packet to one or more ports identified by the first entry in response to confirming that the first entry is an IP multicast entry; and in response to the Ethernet packet being a MAC multicast packet that does not encapsulate an IP multicast packet, generate a second key based on a MAC multicast destination address associated with the Ethernet packet, lookup a second entry in the bridge table using the second key, and flood the Ethernet packet to one or more ports identified by the second entry in response to confirming that the second entry is not an IP multicast entry.