SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING INTERNET PROTOCOL MULTICAST COMMUNICATIONS OVER A WIRELESS BROADBAND DATA NETWORK

摘要

A system and method is provided for enabling operation of a native Internet Protocol (IP) multicast application in a mobile station having a wireless interface that does not support native IP multicast messages. The mobile station includes a link layer interface that is configured to communicate with various base stations using a wireless broadband data protocol. Each mobile station also includes a proxy module that operates as a middleware layer above the link layer interface. The proxy module is configured to intercept multicast messages being passed to and from the link layer interface, and convert any multicast messages from a native IP multicast protocol, to an Application Program Interface (API) call specific to the link layer interface, or vice versa.