Patent ID: 7894430

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving a multicast packet from a source node of a first spoke in a hub and spoke network having a hub and a plurality of spokes, the multicast packet intended for members of a first multicast group; upon determining that the first multicast group comprises a receiver node that resides in the first spoke in the hub and spoke network, routing the multicast packet to the receiver node that resides in the first spoke by operation of one or more computer processors, without having to first send the multicast packet to the hub; and upon determining that the first multicast group comprises a receiver node that resides in the second spoke in the hub and spoke network: encapsulating the multicast packet as payload in an upstream packet, the upstream packet having a destination address of a second multicast group to which the hub is a member; and sending the upstream packet towards the hub to be routed to the receiver node that resides in the second spoke.