METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TRACING A MULTICAST FLOW

摘要

A method for tracing a multicast flow in a network is described herein. The network may include one or more hosts and a plurality of network devices. An initiating device of the plurality of network devices receives a message to trace a multi cast flow. The message includes an identification of a multi cast flow. It is determined whether a multi cast distribution tree of the initiating device includes state information of the multi cast flow. An upstream neighbor of the initiating device is determined. A multi cast trace route request is transmitted to a receiving device of the plurality of network devices. The receiving device is the upstream neighbor of the initiating device. It is determined whether a response is received from the receiving device and based on the response, it is determined whether to transmit a multi cast trace route request to an upstream neighbor of the receiving device.