Patent ID: 7170868

Claim:
A method of message communication management within a communication network, the method comprising the steps of: forming one or more multicast groups comprising one or more subscriber devices operating within the communication network; at an access point: receiving information about the formed one or more multicast groups; storing a presence table comprising a list of wireless subscriber units along with their membership to at least one multicast group and whether the subscriber unit is associated with the access point using the received information; updating the presence table upon receipt of an internet group management protocol (IGMP) join message, wherein the IGMP message comprises information about a multicast group that a first subscriber is joining; receiving a multicast packet intended for a particular multicast group; determining by consulting the presence table whether there is at least one wireless subscriber unit belonging to the particular multicast group and whether the at least one wireless subscriber unit is currently associated with the access point; and rebroadcasting the multicast packet over a wireless segment only if there is at least one wireless subscriber unit belonging to the particular multicast group and associated with the access point.