Patent ID: 7808993

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving a multicast packet addressed to multicast group G, wherein multicast routing for multicast group G is performed using a bidirectional multicast routing protocol, the multicast packet is received via an interface, and the interface is not a Reverse Path Forwarding (RPF) interface leading towards a rendezvous point; inhibiting the multicast packet from being forwarded via the RPF interface, wherein information associated with multicast group G indicates that the RPF interface is not an outgoing interface for multicast group G, and the inhibiting is performed in response to the information associated with multicast group G indicating that the RPF interface is not an outgoing interface for multicast group G; and generating (*, G) state information for the multicast group G, in response to receiving an indication that a receiver is joining the multicast group, wherein the indication is received via the interface, and the (*, G) state information includes, subsequent to the generating, the information associated with multicast group G indicating that the RPF interface is not an outgoing interface for multicast group G.