Controlled multicast
View Patent ↗According to the present invention a method and an apparatus in a packet-switched network for supplying data packets to receivers ( 4 a - c ) belonging to a multicast group are disclosed. The apparatus comprises a routing means ( 2 ) for receiving data packets from a sender ( 1 ) and for buffering data packets the destination address of which is a multicast address of a multicast group. The apparatus further comprises a control means ( 3 ) communicating with the routing means ( 2 ) for determining the addresses of the receivers ( 4 a - c ) of the multicast group indicated by the multicast address and receiver-specific parameters, for designating filters for each receiver ( 4 a - c ) and/or each determined receiver address in accordance with the receiver-specific parameters and for supplying the determined addresses and designated filters to the routing means ( 2 ). The routing means ( 2 ) filters the multicast data packets and/or the determined addresses with the designated filters for each receiver ( 4 a - c ) of the multicast group and supplies the filtered multicast dam packets to the filtered receiver addresses.
1. A method comprising:
receiving a multicast data packet at a routing unit of a communication system, wherein the multicast data packet includes a multicast address associated with a multicast group;
identifying a receiver address associated with the multicast address;
identifying one or more parameters associated with the receiver address, wherein at least one of the one or more parameters identifies a type of content that is not to be sent to the receiver address;
filtering the multicast data packet based on the one or more parameters to generate a filtered data packet, wherein the filtering includes removing the type of content from the multicast data packet to generate the filtered data packet; and
transmitting the filtered data packet to the one of the receiver address.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising maintaining a table that associates the receiver address with the multicast address, wherein the table is stored at a control unit.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising maintaining a table that associates the one or more parameters with the receiver address.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more parameters are dependent on one or more conditions of a receiver associated with the receiver address.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters identifies a data size limit that can be sent to the receiver address.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters identifies a time at which data packets are not to be sent to the receiver address.
7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising filtering a plurality of receiver addresses associated with the multicast address to identify one or more receiver addresses that are not to receive the multicast data packet.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the filtering of the plurality of receiver addresses is based at least in part on parameters associated with the plurality of receiver addresses, and wherein the parameters are associated with at least the one or more receiver addresses that are not to receive the multicast data packet.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters comprises an instruction to not send an advertisement to the receiver address.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters comprises an instruction to not send an image to the receiver address.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters is based in part on whether a receiver associated with the receiver address is roaming.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters is based in part on a characteristic of a display of a receiver associated with the receiver address.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the characteristic of the display comprises at least one of a size of the display, a color attribute of the display, or a graphical attribute of the display.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters is based in part on an available bandwidth of a receiver associated with the at least one receiver address.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters is based in part on an availability of a receiver associated with the receiver address.
16. An apparatus comprising:
a routing unit configured to receive a multicast data packet, wherein the multicast data packet includes a multicast address associated with a multicast group; and
a control unit configured to:
identify a receiver address associated with the multicast address;
identify one or more parameters associated with the receiver address, wherein at least one of the one or more parameters identifies a type of content that is not to be sent to the receiver address; and
filter the multicast data packet based on the one or more parameters to generate a filtered data packet, wherein the filtering removes the type of content from the multicast data packet to generate the filtered data packet; and
the routing unit configured to transmit the filtered data packet to the receiver address.
17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters identifies a data size limit that can be sent to the receiver address.
18. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters identifies a time at which data packets are not to be sent to the receiver address.
19. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters comprises an instruction to not send an advertisement to the receiver address.
20. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters is based in part on whether a receiver associated with the receiver address is roaming.
21. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the control unit is further configured to filter a plurality of receiver addresses associated with the multicast address to identify one or more receiver addresses that are not to receive the multicast data packet.
22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the filtering of the plurality of receiver addresses is based at least in part on parameters associated with the plurality of receiver addresses, and wherein the parameters are associated with at least the one or more receiver addresses that are not to receive the multicast data packet.
23. An apparatus comprising:
means for identifying a multicast data packet having a multicast address associated with a multicast group;
means for identifying a receiver address associated with the multicast address;
means for identifying one or more parameters associated with the receiver address, wherein at least one of the one or more parameters identifies a type of content that is not to be sent to the receiver address;
means for filtering the multicast data packet based on the one or more parameters to generate a filtered data packet, wherein the means for filtering removes the type of content from the multicast data packet to generate the filtered data packet; and
means for transmitting the filtered data packet to the receiver address.
24. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters is based in part on an available bandwidth of a receiver associated with the receiver address.
25. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters is based in part on a characteristic of a display of a receiver associated with the receiver address.
26. The apparatus of claim 25 , wherein the characteristic of the display comprises at least one of a size of the display, a color attribute of the display, or a graphical attribute of the display.
27. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters comprises an instruction to not send an image to the receiver address.
28. The apparatus of claim 23 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters identifies a time at which data packets are not to be sent to the receiver address.
29. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions comprising:
instructions for receiving a multicast data packet, wherein the multicast data packet includes a multicast address associated with a multicast group;
instructions to identify a_for identifying receiver address associated with the multicast address;
instructions to identify one or more parameters associated with at the receiver address, wherein at least one of the one or more parameters identifies a type of content that is not to be sent to the receiver address;
instructions to filter the multicast data packet based on the one or more parameters to generate a filtered data packet, wherein the filtering removes the type of content from the multicast data packet to generate the filtered data packet; and
instructions to transmit for the filtered data packet to the receiver address.
30. The computer-readable medium of claim 29 , further comprising instructions to filter a plurality of receiver addresses associated with the multicast address to identify one or more receiver addresses that are not to receive the multicast data packet, wherein the filtering of the receiver addresses is based at least in part on parameters associated with the plurality of receiver addresses, and wherein the parameters are associated with at least the one or more receiver addresses that are not to receive the multicast data packet.
31. The computer-readable medium of claim 29 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters is based in part on an available bandwidth of a receiver associated with the receiver address.
32. The computer-readable medium of claim 29 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters comprises an instruction to not send an advertisement to the receiver address.
33. The computer-readable medium of claim 29 , wherein at least one of the one or more parameters identifies a time at which data packets are not to be sent to the receiver address.