Patent ID: 8908686

Claim:
A method comprising: determining, with a first packet replicator of a plurality of packet replicators of a network device, a hierarchical forwarding relationship for the first packet replicator within a distributed hierarchical forwarding structure for internally forwarding multicast packets for a multicast stream through the plurality of packet replicators from an input interface of the network device to one or more output interfaces of the network device, wherein the hierarchical forwarding relationship for the first packet replicator specifies a parent packet replicator of the plurality of packet replicators from which the first packet replicator is to receive data units of multicast packets in the multicast packet stream according to the distributed hierarchical forwarding structure; associating a first token with a local forwarding data structure of the first packet replicator, the local forwarding data structure comprising multicast forwarding state for the distributed hierarchical forwarding structure; issuing a message within the network device from the first packet replicator to the parent packet replicator, wherein the message includes the first token and directs the parent packet replicator to internally forward packets in accordance with the hierarchical forwarding relationship; and receiving, with the first packet replicator, a data unit of a multicast packet of the multicast packet stream and the first token from the parent packet replicator and, upon identifying the local forwarding data structure using the first token, forwarding the data unit in accordance with the local forwarding data structure.