Patent ID: 8687536

Claim:
A method for joining a first communications device to a multicast group over a multicast communication link, comprising: establishing a close range communications peer-to-peer (P2P) link using a self establishing near field communication (NFC) protocol between the first communications device and a second communications device which is already a member of the multicast group, wherein establishing the close range communication P2P link uses a wireless proximity-limited communication technology that requires the first communications device and the second communications device to be within about twenty centimeters of each other; exchanging multicast group services advertisement data pertaining to the multicast group between the second communications device and the first communications device using the close range communications P2P link, wherein the multicast group services advertisement data comprises: multicast group information required for the first communications device to join the multicast group; and security or encryption information from the second communications device needed for the first communications device to access the multicast communication link so as to establish the multicast communication link with the multicast group over a longer range communications link different from the close range communication P2P link; and joining the first communications device to the multicast group based on the multicast group services advertisement data; wherein joining the first communications device to the multicast group based on the multicast group services advertisement data comprises: sending signaling data pertaining to a communications capability of the first communications device from the first communications device to the second communications device; and sending the signaling data from the second communications device to another member of the multicast group; wherein the signaling data is sent from the first communications device to the second communications device over the close range communications P2P link.