Technology Introduction

IP Multicast IPv6 Multicast Routing and Forwarding

IPv6 Multicast Routing and Forwarding

Introduction to IPv6 Multicast Routing and Forwarding

In IPv6 multicast implementations, multicast routing and forwarding are implemented

by three types of tables:
z Each IPv6 multicast routing protocol has its own multicast routing table, such as
IPv6 PIM routing table.
z The multicast routing information of different IPv6 multicast routing protocols forms
a general IPv6 multicast routing table.
z The IPv6 multicast forwarding table is directly used to control the forwarding of
IPv6 multicast packets. This is the table that guides IPv6 multicast forwarding.
An IPv6 multicast forwarding table consists of a set of (S, G) entries, each indicating the
routing information for delivering multicast data from a multicast source to a multicast
group. If a router supports multiple IPv6 multicast protocols, its IPv6 multicast routing
table will include routes generated by these protocols. The router chooses the optimal
route from the IPv6 multicast routing table based on the configured multicast routing
and forwarding policy and installs the route entry into its IPv6 multicast forwarding
table.

RPF Mechanism

When creating IPv6 multicast routing table entries, an IPv6 multicast routing protocol
uses the reverse path forwarding (RPF) to ensure IPv6 multicast data delivery along
the correct path.
The RPF mechanism enables routers to correctly forward IPv6 multicast packets based
on the multicast route configuration. In addition, the RPF mechanism also helps avoid
data loops caused by various reasons.

I. Implementation of the RPF mechanism

Upon receiving an IPv6 multicast packet sent from a multicast source S to an IPv6
multicast group G, the router first searches its IPv6 multicast forwarding table:
1) If the corresponding (S, G) entry exists, and the interface on which the packet
actually arrived is the incoming interface in the IPv6 multicast forwarding table, the
router forwards the packet to all the outgoing interfaces.
2) If the corresponding (S, G) entry exists, but the interface on which the packet
actually arrived is not the incoming interface in the IPv6 multicast forwarding table,
the packet is subject to an RPF check.

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IP Multicast IPv6 Multicast Routing and Forwarding

z If the result of the RPF check shows that the RPF interface is the incoming
interface of the existing (S, G) entry, this means that the (S, G) entry is correct but
the packet arrived from a wrong path and is to be discarded.
z If the result of the RPF check shows that the RPF interface is not the incoming
interface of the existing (S, G) entry, this means that the (S, G) entry is no longer
valid. The router replaces the incoming interface of the (S, G) entry with the
interface on which the packet actually arrived and forwards the packet to all the
outgoing interfaces.
3) If no corresponding (S, G) entry exists in the multicast forwarding table, the packet
is also subject to an RPF check. The router creates an (S, G) entry based on the
relevant routing information and using the RPF interface as the incoming interface,
and installs the entry into the IPv6 multicast forwarding table.
z If the interface on which the packet actually arrived is the RPF interface, the RPF
check is successful and the router forwards the packet to all the outgoing
interfaces.
z If the interface on which the packet actually arrived is not the RPF interface, the
RPF check fails and the router discards the packet.

II. RPF Check

The basis for an RPF check is an IPv6 unicast route. The IPv6 unicast routing table
contains the shortest path to each destination subnet. A multicast routing protocol does
not independently maintain any type of unicast routes; instead, it relies on the existing
unicast routing information in creating multicast routing entries.
z When performing an RPF check, the router searches its IPv6 unicast routing table
using the IPv6 address of the “packet source” as the destination address and
automatically selects the optimal route as the RPF route. The outgoing interface in
the corresponding routing entry is the RPF interface and the next hop is the RPF
neighbor. The router considers the path along which the IPv6 multicast packet
from the RPF neighbor arrived on the RPF interface to be the shortest path that
leads back to the source.

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Note:
The above-mentioned “packet source” can mean different things in different situations:
z For a packet traveling along the shortest path tree (SPT) from the multicast source
to the receivers or the source-based tree from the multicast source to the
rendezvous point (RP), “packet source” means the multicast source.
z For a packet traveling along the rendezvous point tree (RPT) from the RP to the
receivers, “packet source” means the RP.
z For a bootstrap message from the bootstrap router (BSR), “packet source” means
the BSR.

Assume that IPv6 unicast routes exist in the network, and IPv6 multicast packets travel
along the SPT from the multicast source to the receivers, as shown in Figure 1.

Receiver
Router B

POS 5/1
POS5/ 0
Source

2000 ::101/16 Router A

IPv6 Multicast packets Receiver

POS5/ 0
POS 5/1
IPv6 Routing Table on Router C

Destination/Prefix Interface Router C

2000::/16 POS5/1

Figure 1 RPF check process

z An IPv6 multicast packet from Source arrives on POS 5/0 of Router C, and the
IPv6 multicast forwarding table does not contain the corresponding forwarding
entry. Router C performs an RPF check, and finds in its IPv6 unicast routing table
that the outgoing interface to the network subnet 2000::/16 is POS 5/1. This
means that the interface on which the packet actually arrived is not the RPF
interface. The packet fails the RPF check and is discarded.
z An IPv6 multicast packet from Source arrives on POS 5/1 of Router C, and the
IPv6 multicast forwarding table does not contain the corresponding forwarding
entry. Router C performs an RPF check, and finds in its IPv6 unicast routing table
that the outgoing interface to the subnet 2000::/16 is the one on which the IPv6
multicast packet actually arrived. The RPF check succeeds and the packet is
forwarded.