Driven multicast traffic distribution on link-aggregate-group

1. A method of distributing a plurality of multicast streams to a plurality of hosts on a link-aggregation-group between a first network element and a second network element, wherein the plurality of hosts are coupled to the second network element and the link-aggregation-group includes a plurality of links coupling the second network element and the first network element, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, with the first network element, a multicast request that requests to join one of the plurality of multicast streams from one of the plurality of hosts, wherein the multicast request includes a type code that indicates a type of the requested multicast stream;

determining a bandwidth amount for the one of the plurality of multicast streams using the type code contained in the requested multicast request;

allocating the bandwidth amount on one of the plurality of links; and

in response to a successful allocation of the bandwidth amount, updating a forwarding table to indicate that the requested one of the plurality of multicast streams is to be forwarded on the one of the plurality of links.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of allocating comprises the steps of:

determining that the one of the plurality of links has the least bandwidth utilized out of the plurality of links; and,

adding the bandwidth amount to the one of the plurality of links to correct the bandwidth utilization of that link.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein a multicast stream is selected from a group consisting of a high definition multimedia stream, a standard definition multimedia stream, and a picture-in-picture multimedia stream.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a first multicast request is selected from a group consisting of an Internet Group Management Protocol report, a Protocol Independent Multicast join, and a Multicast Listener Directory report.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first network element is selected from a group consisting of a multicast snooping switch and a multicast router.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further includes the step of:

dropping the first multicast request if the step of allocating of the bandwidth is not successful.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further includes the step of:

in response to a successful allocation of the bandwidth amount, transmitting a second multicast request to a service provider.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first multicast request is one of an Internet Group Management Protocol report and a Multicast Listener Directory report and the second multicast request is a Protocol Independent Multicast join.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first multicast request is one of an Internet Group Management Protocol report and a Multicast Listener Directory report and the type code is stored in the reserved checksum field of the first multicast request.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first multicast request is Protocol Independent Multicast join and the type code is stored in the first four bytes of the encoded address field of the first multicast request.

11. A network comprising:

a service provider that provides a plurality of multicast streams;

a plurality of hosts, wherein each of the plurality of hosts transmits a multicast request that requests to join one of a plurality of multicast streams and each of the plurality of multicast requests includes a type code that indicates a type of the requested multicast stream;

a link-aggregation-group that comprises a plurality of links;

a second network element, coupled to the plurality of hosts that provides multicast access to the plurality of hosts; and

a first network element, coupled to the second network element and the service provider, wherein the first network element is coupled to the second network element via the link-aggregation-group, and the first network element to dynamically distribute the plurality of multicast streams to the plurality of hosts on the link-aggregate-group, the first network element comprising,

an input component, wherein the input component receives the plurality of multicast requests from the plurality of hosts,

a bandwidth determination component, coupled to the input component, wherein the bandwidth determination component, for each of the plurality of multicast requests received, determines a bandwidth amount for one of the plurality of multicast streams using the type code contained in that multicast request,

a link bandwidth allocation component, coupled to the bandwidth determination component, wherein the link bandwidth allocation component, for each of the plurality of multicast requests received, allocates the bandwidth amount corresponding to the type code in that multicast request on one of the plurality of links, and,

a forwarding table component coupled to the link bandwidth allocation component, wherein the forwarding table component, in response to a successful allocation of the bandwidth amount and for each of the plurality of multicast requests received, updates a forwarding table to indicate that one of the plurality of multicast streams in that multicast request is to be forwarded on the one of the plurality of links.

12. The network of claim 11 , wherein the link bandwidth allocation component, for each of the received multicast requests, also:

determines that the one of the plurality of links has the least bandwidth utilized out of the plurality of links; and

adds the bandwidth amount to the one of the plurality of links to correct the bandwidth utilization of that link.

13. The network of claim 11 , wherein a multicast stream is selected from a group consisting of a high definition multimedia stream, a standard definition multimedia stream, and a picture-in-picture multimedia stream.

14. The network of claim 11 , wherein a first multicast request is selected from a group consisting of an Internet Group Management Protocol report, a Protocol Independent Multicast join, and a Multicast Listener Directory report.

15. The network of claim 11 , wherein the first network element is selected from a group consisting of a multicast snooping switch and a multicast router.

16. The network of claim 11 , wherein the network element further includes:

a drop component, wherein the drop component drops the first multicast request if the step of allocating of the bandwidth is not successful.

17. The network of claim 11 , wherein the first multicast request is one of an Internet Group Management Protocol report and a Multicast Listener Directory report and the type code is stored in the reserved checksum field of the first multicast request.

18. The network of claim 11 , wherein the first multicast request is Protocol Independent Multicast join and the type code is stored in the first four bytes of the encoded address field of the first multicast request.

19. A network element adapted to dynamically distribute a plurality of multicast streams to a plurality of hosts on a link-aggregation-group between a first network element and a second network element, wherein the plurality of hosts are coupled to the second network element and the link-aggregation-group includes a plurality of links coupling the second network element and the first network element, the network element comprising:

an input component to receive a multicast request that requests to join one of the plurality of multicast streams from one of the plurality of hosts, wherein the multicast request includes a type code that indicates a type of the requested multicast stream;

a bandwidth determination component to determine a bandwidth amount for the requested multicast stream using the type code contained in the multicast request;

a link bandwidth allocation component to allocate the bandwidth amount on one of the plurality of links; and,

a forwarding table component to, in response to a successful allocation of the bandwidth amount, update a forwarding table to indicate that requested multicast stream is to be forwarded on the one of the plurality of links.

20. The network element of claim 19 , wherein the link bandwidth allocation component, is further to:

determine that the one of the plurality of links has the least bandwidth utilized out of the plurality of links; and

add the bandwidth amount to the one of the plurality of links to correct the bandwidth utilization of that link.