System and method for providing multicast delivery in a network environment

摘要

A method is provided in one example and includes receiving signaling data associated with a request for a multicast channel, the request includes an Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6) source and an IPv6 group address. The method may also include identifying an Internet protocol version 4 (IPv4) source and an IPv4 group address to be mapped to the IPv6 source and the IPv6 group address. The signaling data can be converted from a first protocol to a second protocol. The converted signaling data can be communicated to a network element. In more particular embodiments, the network element is an IP edge router configured to join the multicast channel and stream data in response to receiving the converted signaling data. The IP edge router can be configured to perform an encapsulation operation to transport IPv6 multicast packets within an IPv4 multicast channel.

主权项

1. A method, comprising:
receiving, at a first hop 6rd border router, multicast signaling data associated with a request for a multicast channel, wherein the request includes an Internet protocol version 6 (IPv6) source and an IPv6 group address, wherein the 6rd border router is provisioned between an IPv6 enabled site and an IPv4 enabled service provider; identifying an Internet protocol version 4 (IPv4) equivalent multicast source and group address to be mapped to the IPv6 source and the IPv6 group address, wherein an IPv6 packet from the IPv6 source follows an IPv4 routing topology within an IPv4 network; converting the multicast signaling data from a first protocol to a second protocol at a residential gateway, wherein the first protocol is a multicast listener discovery (MLD) protocol and the second protocol is an Internet Management Group Protocol (IGMP), and wherein the residential gateway is in communication with more than one IPv6 multicast receiver, wherein converting the multicast signaling data from the first protocol to the second protocol includes converting an MLD request to an IGMP request, wherein the MLD request includes an IPv6 group address and an IPv6 source address and the conversion includes translating the MLD request to an IGMP request by mapping the IPv6 group address to an IPv4 group address and the IPv6 source address to an IPv4 source address; and communicating the converted multicast signaling data to a digital subscriber line access multiplexer (DSLAM) for communication to the 6rd border router, wherein the 6rd border router is configured for IPv6 multicasting within a 6rd domain.