Patent ID: 7899049

Claim:
A method for minimizing duplicate traffic during point to multipoint (P2MP) tree switching in a network including a P2MP tree with a source node, the method comprising: receiving multicast data traffic transmitted from a first router over a primary network path to a second router, wherein the primary network path supports multicast label switching of multicast data traffic; and in response to detecting a failure in the network, receiving the multicast data traffic over a backup label switched path on a secondary network path between the first router and the second router in lieu of receiving the multicast data traffic over the primary network path and minimizing duplicate traffic by initiating a multicast rerouting procedure, the multicast rerouting procedure comprising: transmitting a new multicast switching label via the secondary network path to an upstream router, the secondary network path including the upstream router between the first router and the second router; and, upon receiving an acknowledgement notification from the upstream router indicating that the upstream router is a merge point in the P2MP tree, configuring the second router to receive multicast data traffic addressed to the new multicast switching label and transmitted from the upstream router over the secondary network path in lieu of receiving multicast data traffic from the backup label switched path prior to the PSMP tree reaching a convergent state after the failure.