A look at native IPv6 multicast

IP multicast offers a bandwidth-efficient means for transmitting packets to multiple hosts for applications that require multiparty communications. Coupled with IPv6's larger address space, its inherent multicast support enables current and future Internet-ready devices to support multiparty applications such as videoconferencing, P2P gaming, and data feeds. IP multicast is applicable to IPv4 and IPv6, but we focus on the IPv6 implementation, looking at the protocols and how they stack up against the IPv4 implementation. In particular, we describe how IPv6 multicast can be supported in an interdomain environment.