JP2005142656A - Ip multicast distribution control system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ip multicast distribution control system capable of preventing illegitimate transfer utilizing a multicast tree of the other people without the need for transferring multicast traffic not needed for an IP network by furthermore enhancing a method of controlling a reception request with respect to a first-come application. <P>SOLUTION: The ip multicast distribution control system is provided with a multicast distribution control function located in an IP network, authenticates a distributor prior to multicast distribution and transfers a multicast packet of an only permitted distributor. Thus, the transfer of unnecessary multicast traffic to the IP network can be avoided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an IP multicast distribution control system, and more specifically to a technique for limiting multicast distributors when IP packets are multicast distributed in an IP network.

  As a conventional IP multicast system, a multicast protocol is used to determine a route between a sender and a receiver by forwarding a reception request hop-by-hop. A method of determining a route by flooding is considered. Examples of the former include Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2, and examples of the latter include Non-Patent Documents 3 and 4.

  On the other hand, in multicast transfer, a packet is duplicated in the IP network, which causes a problem of compressing traffic on the line. Therefore, the recipient accommodating router as proposed by the IP multicast authentication method (hereinafter referred to as the IP multicast authentication method according to the prior application) for authenticating the reception request when the applicant first makes a multicast request. It is conceivable to prevent line bandwidth compression due to unnecessary traffic between the receiver and the receiver.

The IP multicast authentication method according to the above-mentioned prior application of the present applicant will be described using a conventional system configuration example shown in FIG.
In the IP multicast authentication method according to the prior application, multicast control including a web server 17 having a control unit function, an authentication server 18 having a receiver management function, and a customer data server 19 having a content management function. The server group 1 ′ controls the group list table 61 of the receiver accommodating router 6.

  Prior to transmitting the multicast reception request, the receiving device 5 requests the web server 17 to authenticate, and only when the authentication is permitted, the multicast distribution server group 1 ′ stores the group list table 61 of the receiver accommodating router 6. Change the setting so that the multicast reception request is transparent. Therefore, even if the receiving device 5 transmits an unauthenticated multicast distribution request, it is discarded by the recipient accommodating router 6 and an unauthorized multicast distribution request is not transferred into the IP network.

RFC2362 draft-ietf-pim-sm-v2-new-07 RFC1075 draft-ietf-pim-dm-new-v2-01

  However, in the method of controlling the reception request of the IP multicast authentication method according to the above-mentioned prior application of the present applicant, the distributor accommodating router 7 and the distribution device 3 in FIG. 23 are not controlled. Therefore, even if this IP multicast authentication method is applied, since the distributor can transfer multicast traffic, there is a problem that unnecessary traffic is transferred to a part of the IP network.

  For example, when the multicast protocol is PIM-SM1 shown in Non-Patent Document 1, unnecessary traffic is transferred from the distributor to the route of the multicast tree called the rendezvous point set in the IP network. Alternatively, in the method of flooding a multicast packet, unnecessary traffic is transferred to the recipient accommodating router even temporarily.

  Further, in the method for controlling the reception request according to the above-mentioned prior application, when a malicious distributor illegally uses a multicast address that another distributor has acquired properly and transmits a packet, the illegal packet is There is a problem in that it is forwarded to a receiver on a multicast tree that has been normally constructed, and the reception of the regular multicast packet by the receiver is obstructed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to further improve the method for controlling the reception request according to the prior application without transferring unnecessary multicast traffic to the IP network. Another object of the present invention is to provide an IP multicast distribution control system capable of preventing unauthorized transfer using another person's multicast tree.

  Other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the IP multicast distribution control system according to the present invention, a multicast distribution control function is provided in the IP network, and the multicast packet of the permitted distributor is authenticated and authorized before the multicast distribution. By transferring only the multicast traffic, unnecessary multicast traffic is not transferred to the IP network.

In addition, the multicast distribution control function can prevent unauthorized forwarding using another person's multicast tree by specifying a multicast address for a permitted distributor and setting a filter in the distributor accommodating router. .
In addition, it is effective from the viewpoint of the convenience of the receiver to notify the receiver of the multicast address permitted to the distributor by the multicast distribution control device.

  More specifically, an IP multicast distribution control system according to the present invention is used for multicast communication in an IP network, and the IP network includes a multicast distribution control function and a distributor accommodating router having a packet filter function, The multicast distribution control function includes a multicast address and a multicast address management function that stores whether the multicast address is in use or unused, distributor information, a router address of a distributor accommodating router that accommodates a distributor, and a distributor accommodating A distributor management function for storing a port number; a control unit that receives a distribution request, authenticates based on the distributor information, returns a response to the distributor, and controls a packet filter of the distributor accommodating router; The multicast distribution control function receives a distribution request. If it is authorized, the router address of the distributor accommodating router connected to the distributor, the distributor accommodating port number, and the unused multicast address are determined. And using the distributor accommodating router to control packet filter settings for the distributor accommodating port of the distributor and permit transfer of only the multicast address (corresponding to claim 1).

  Here, the multicast address management function and the control unit of the multicast distribution control function are provided with an unused multicast address notification function, and the multicast distribution control function receives all the distribution requests when the distribution request is received and authentication is permitted. It is preferable to use the multicast address notified by the distributor as the multicast address set in the distributor accommodating router when the distributor is notified of the multicast address to be used and the multicast address desired to be used is notified by the distributor. (Corresponding to claim 2).

  In addition, when receiving the distribution end request, the multicast distribution control function preferably cancels the packet filter transfer permission set in the distributor accommodating router at the time of the distribution request and changes the multicast address to unused (claim). 3).

The distributor-accommodating router includes a timer for monitoring the reception of the multicast packet. The timer is updated when the transfer-permitted distributor-accommodating port receives the multicast packet permitted to be transferred or predetermined. If a multicast packet whose transfer is permitted for a certain time is not received, the transfer permission setting of the packet filter is canceled and the multicast distribution control function is notified of the end of distribution, and the multicast distribution control function terminates distribution from the distributor accommodating router. When the notification is received, it is preferable to change the multicast address of the multicast address management function to unused (corresponding to claim 4).
It is characterized by

Further, the distributor accommodating router is provided with a timer for monitoring a multicast reception request, and this timer is updated when a reception request for the multicast address permitted to transfer is received,
Alternatively, if a multicast reception request that permits transfer from any port is not received for a predetermined period of time, the transfer permission setting of the packet filter is canceled, the end of distribution is notified to the multicast distribution control function, and the multicast distribution control is performed. When the function receives a distribution end notification from the distributor accommodating router, it is preferable that the multicast address of the multicast address management function is changed to unused (corresponding to claim 5).

  The multicast distribution control function includes a charging log collection function, and when an unused multicast address is acquired from the multicast address management function, a multicast address and a distributor using the multicast address as a use start log When the multicast address management function records whether the multicast address is unused or succeeded in the multicast address management function, a multicast address and a distributor using the multicast address are recorded as a use end log. It is preferable to record the distributor identifier and the use end time (corresponding to claim 6).

  The multicast distribution control function preferably notifies the distributor of the contents of the log after recording the use start log and the use end log (corresponding to claim 7).

  The multicast distribution control function includes a content management function, and the multicast distribution control function receives a content name in addition to the information according to claim 1 or 2 in the distribution request. If the packet filter setting of the distributor accommodating router is successful in claim 1 or claim 2, the content management function registers the multicast address and content name, and the multicast delivery control function is the delivery in claims 3 to 5. It is preferable that the content management function deletes the registered multicast address and content name when the packet filter setting cancellation of the user accommodation router is successful (corresponding to claim 8).

  Furthermore, in the IP multicast distribution control function according to claim 8, it is preferable that the multicast address management function includes a content management function (corresponding to claim 9).

  10. The IP multicast distribution control system according to claim 8, wherein the receiving device connected to the IP network operates in a multicast distribution control function prior to transmission of a multicast reception request, and the multicast distribution control function notifies the multicast address. (Corresponding to claim 10).

  The IP multicast distribution control system according to claim 10, wherein the multicast distribution control function includes a receiver management function, and performs receiver authentication before notifying the receiver of the multicast address registered in the content management function, It is preferable that the multicast distribution control function notifies the multicast address only when the authentication is successful (corresponding to claim 11).

  Here, in the IP multicast distribution control system according to claim 11, the receiver management function has a function of managing a receivable multicast address for each receiver, and the distributor designates the receiver when registering the content. An IP multicast distribution control system that distributes only to recipients permitted by the distributor (corresponding to claim 12).

  According to the present invention, it is possible to transfer only multicast packets that can be distributed in IP multicast, and to prevent line bandwidth compression due to illegal multicast traffic.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

[Example 1]
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the system configuration example of FIG. 1, the multicast address management table configuration example of FIG. 2, the distributor management table configuration example of FIG. 3, and the operation example of FIG.
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a multicast distribution control server 1 and a distributor accommodating router 2 are connected to an IP multicast network 4, and the distribution apparatus 3 is connected to the distributor accommodating router 2. It is connected.

The multicast distribution control server 1 includes a multicast address management table 11, a distributor management table 12 and a control unit 13, and the multicast address management table 11 and the distributor management table 12 are connected to the control unit 13.
The distributor accommodating router 2 is provided with a packet filter 21 and can select whether the received packet is transferred or discarded for each port accommodating the distributor and for each multicast address.

Next, a configuration example of the multicast address management table 11 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
The multicast address management table 11 includes a multicast address 11a and a use flag 11b. In FIG. 2, the IPv4 multicast address is shown. However, the IP version does not limit the present invention, and the same applies to IPv6. The usage flag 11b is “1” in the description of this embodiment. “0” is unused. However, the same is true even if the definition is reversed.

Next, a configuration example of the distributor management table 12 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
The distributor management table 12 includes a distributor identifier 12a, authentication information 12b, an IP address 12c of the distributor accommodating router 2, and a distributor accommodating port number 12d. As the distributor identifier 12a and the authentication information 12b, for example, a distributor ID and a password can be considered, but the present invention does not limit the authentication method.

  The distributor identifier (ID) 12a is an ID for uniquely identifying a distributor, and is assigned to a distributor who performs multicast distribution. Although an IPv4 multicast address is described as the IP address of the distributor accommodating router 2, the IP version does not limit the present invention, and the same applies to IPv6.

Next, an operation example of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the following description, numbers in parentheses (example: (2)) are given to the operations in the figure.
As an initial state, the distributor accommodating port of the distributor accommodating router 2 is set to block all multicast addresses. That is, when a packet whose destination address is a multicast address is received from the distribution device 3 at the distributor accommodating port, the distributor accommodating router 2 discards the packet.

The initial state of the multicast address management table 11 is unused for all multicast addresses.
In the distributor management table 12, a distributor identifier 12 a, authentication information 12 b, and an IP address 12 c of the distributor accommodating router 2 that accommodates the distributor, of a distributor who permits multicast distribution in advance. The port number 12d of the distributor accommodating router 2 to which the distributor is connected is registered in advance.

When the distribution apparatus 3 desires multicast distribution, the distribution apparatus 3 transmits to the multicast distribution control server 1 a distribution request specifying the distributor identifier 12a and the authentication information 12b (1).
When the control unit 13 of the multicast distribution control server 1 receives the distribution request from the distribution device 3, the distributor information of the distributor identifier 12 a from the distributor management table 12, that is, the authentication information 12 b and the distributor accommodating router 2. The IP address 12c and the distributor accommodation port number 12d are acquired, and the authentication information is verified (2) (3).

If the verification is successful, the control unit 13 requests the multicast address from the multicast address management table 11 (4).
When receiving a multicast address request from the control unit 13, the multicast address management table 11 notifies an arbitrary multicast address from unused multicast addresses (5), and changes to in use.

When the control unit 13 acquires the unused multicast address, the control unit 13 transmits a packet blocking release request specifying the distributor accommodation port number and the multicast address to the IP address of the distributor accommodation router 2 (6).
The distributor accommodating router 2 that has received the blocking release request from the control unit 13 performs unblocking cancellation of the designated multicast address to the designated distributor accommodating port, that is, performs forwarding setting. (7).

  The control unit 13 that has received the packet blocking success response notifies the distributor accommodating device of a distribution permission response specifying the multicast address (8), and the distribution device 3 that has received the distribution permission response triggers the notification. It is also possible to perform multicast distribution.

[Example 2]
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described using the operation example of FIG.
The system configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment. The operation of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment until the authentication is permitted.

  In the second embodiment, the control unit 13 permitted to authenticate requests the multicast address management table 11 to notify an unused multicast address (9). The multicast address management table 11 that has received the request for the unused multicast address list returns the unused multicast list (10). The control unit 13 that has acquired the unused multicast address list transmits a delivery permission response specifying the unused multicast address list to the delivery device 3 (11).

The distribution apparatus 3 that has received the distribution permission response selects a multicast address from the unused multicast address list, and transmits a multicast address request to the multicast distribution control server 1 (12).
Receiving the multicast address response, the multicast distribution control server 1 requests the multicast address management table 11 for the multicast address designated by the distributor (13).

  The multicast address management table 11 that has received the multicast address request changes the notified multicast address during use, and returns a multicast address response (14). Subsequent operations are the same as those in the first embodiment.

Example 3
A third embodiment of the present invention will be described using the operation example of FIG.
When the multicast distribution is completed, the distribution apparatus 3 transmits a distribution end request specifying the distributor identifier 12a, the authentication information 12b, and the used multicast address to the multicast distribution control server 1 (15).

  In the multicast distribution control server 1 that has received the distribution end request, the control unit 13 from the distributor management table 12 distributes the distributor information of the distributor identifier 12a, that is, the authentication information 12b, and the IP address 12c of the distributor accommodating router 2. , The distributor accommodating port number 12d is acquired, and the authentication information is verified (16) (17).

When the verification is successful, the control unit 13 transmits a packet blocking request specifying the distributor accommodating port number 12d and the multicast address to the distributor accommodating router 2 (18).
The distributor accommodating router 2 that has received the packet blocking request cancels the de-designation of the designated multicast address in the designated distributor accommodating port, that is, cancels the forwarding setting, and if successful, responds with a packet blocking success ( 19).

The control unit 13 that has received the packet blocking success response requests the multicast address management table 11 to make the multicast address unused (20).
When the multicast address management table 11 receives the multicast address non-use from the control unit 13, the multicast address management table 11 changes the multicast address to unused, and if successful, returns a multicast address non-use success response (21).

  When the control unit 13 receives the multicast address non-use success response from the multicast address management table 11, it can be considered to return a distribution stop response to the distribution device 3 (22).

Example 4
A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described using the operation example of FIG.
The distributor accommodating router 2 starts the timer for monitoring the reception of the released multicast packet of the released port when the packet blocking release is performed by the same operation as in the first embodiment (23) (24). The timer timeout value is set in advance in the distributor accommodating router 2.

The distributor accommodating router 2 updates the timer to the timeout value when receiving the released multicast packet of the released port before the timer times out (25) (26).
When the timer times out, the distributor accommodating router 2 cancels the cancellation of the blocking of the multicast address monitored by the timer at the distributor accommodating port managed by the timer, that is, cancels the forwarding setting. A packet blocking notification specifying the blocked distribution port number and multicast address is transmitted to the server 1 (27) (28) (29).

The control unit 13 that has received the packet blocking notification requests the multicast address management table 11 to make the multicast address unused (30).
The multicast address management table 11 changes the multicast address to unused when the multicast address unused is received from the control unit 13, and returns a multicast address unused success response when successful (31).

  If the control unit 13 receives the multicast address non-use success response from the multicast address management table 11, it may be possible to return a distribution stop response to the distribution device 3 (32).

Example 5
A fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described using the operation example of FIG.
The distributor accommodating router 2 starts the timer for monitoring the multicast reception request of the multicast protocol for the canceled multicast address when the packet blocking cancellation is performed by the same operation as in the first embodiment (33) (34). Examples of multicast reception requests include PIN-SM Join, IGMP Membership Report, and MLD listener Report, but the present invention does not limit the multicast protocol to be monitored.

Also in this case, the timer timeout value is set in advance in the distributor accommodating router 2.
When receiving the multicast reception request before the timer times out, the distributor accommodating router 2 updates the timer to the timeout value (35) (36).

When the timer times out, the distributor accommodating router 2 performs the setting for blocking the multicast address monitored by the timer, that is, cancels the forwarding setting, and when successful, the multicast distribution control server 1 sends the blocked distributor accommodating port number. A packet blocking notification specifying the multicast address is transmitted (37) (38) (39).
When the packet is successfully blocked, the control unit 13 requests the multicast address not to be used (40).

The multicast address management table 11 changes the multicast address to unused when receiving the multicast address unused from the control unit 13, and returns a multicast address unused success response when successful (41).
When the control unit 13 receives the multicast address non-use success response from the multicast address management table 11, it can be considered that the control unit 13 returns a distribution stop response to the distribution device 3 (42).

Example 6
A sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described using a configuration example of the multicast distribution control server 1 in FIG. 9 and an operation example in FIG.
In the sixth embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 9, a charging log database 14 is added to the multicast distribution control server 1 of the first embodiment.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIG. However, in order to clarify the characteristic operation of the present embodiment, the portions described in the first to fifth embodiments are omitted.
When receiving the multicast address response from the multicast address management table 11, the control unit 13 of the multicast distribution server specifies the current time as the distribution start time, the distributor identifier of the distributor who requested the distribution, and the notified multicast address. The charging log collection request is transmitted to the charging log database 14 (43) (44).

The accounting log database 14 records the notified log and returns a success response (45) (46).
Alternatively, when the control unit 13 of the multicast distribution server receives a response indicating whether the multicast address is unused or not from the multicast address management table 11, the accounting log collection specifying the current time and the notified multicast address as the distribution end time The request is transmitted to the accounting log database 14 (47) (48).
The accounting log database 14 records the notified log and returns a success response (49) (50).

Example 7
As shown in FIG. 11, the seventh embodiment of the present invention is different from the sixth embodiment in that the control unit 13 transmits a charging start notification and a charging end notification to the distribution device 3 when receiving the charging log collection response. Different (51) (52).

Example 8
An eighth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the system configuration in FIG. 12, the configuration example of the content management table in FIG. 13, and the operation example in FIG.
Embodiment 8 of the present invention differs from the other embodiments in that a content management table 15 is provided in the multicast distribution control server 1 as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 13, the content management table 15 includes a multicast address 15a and a content name 15b.

The operation of the eighth embodiment of the present invention will be described using the operation example of FIG.
In the distribution request, the distributor notifies the multicast distribution control server 1 of the content name in addition to the distributor identifier and the authentication information (53). The control unit 13 of the multicast distribution server assigns the multicast address 15a and the content name 15b to the content management table 15 when the packet filter is successfully set in the distributor accommodating router 2 by the operation of the first embodiment or the second embodiment. The content management table 15 that transmits the specified registration request and receives the registration request registers the multicast address 15a and the content name 15b (54) (55) (56).

Alternatively, when the control unit 13 receives the packet blocking setting from the distributor accommodating router 2 by the operation of any of the third to fifth embodiments, the multicast address 15a and the content name 15b are clearly specified for the content management table 15. The content management table 15 that has transmitted the registration deletion request and received the registration deletion request deletes the registration of the multicast address 15a and the content name 15b (58) (59) (60).
Further, when receiving the registration success response and the registration deletion success response, the control unit 13 may notify the distributor of registration success and registration deletion success (62) (63).

Example 9
A ninth embodiment of the present invention will be described using a configuration example of a multicast address management table in FIG.
The ninth embodiment is different from the eighth embodiment in that content management is realized by adding the content name 11c as a configuration to the multicast address management table 11 ′. In the ninth embodiment, the method of adding the term of the content name 11c to the first embodiment (see FIG. 15A), or the term of the use flag 11b is changed to the term of the content name, and the multicast address is being used. If this is the case, a method of setting the content name to an unused flag if not used (see FIG. 15B) can be considered.

  Although the operation of the ninth embodiment is the same as that of the eighth embodiment, registration and registration deletion are different in the multicast address management table 11 'instead of the content management table 15 (64) (65).

Example 10
A tenth embodiment of the present invention will be described using the operation example of FIG.
In the operation example of FIG. 17, the same applies until the multicast distribution control server 1 registers the multicast address and content in the content management table 15.

  When the multicast distribution control server 1 receives an address request specifying the content name from the receiving device 5 after registering the content, the multicast distribution control server 1 makes an address request to the content management table 15 and is notified of the multicast address by an address response. The multicast address is notified to the receiving device (66) (67) (68) (69).

The distribution device 3 transmits multicast data to the IP network 4 after receiving the distribution permission response by the operation of the eighth embodiment.
When receiving the multicast address from the multicast distribution control server 1, the receiving device transmits a multicast reception request to the IP network 4 and receives multicast data from the IP network 4 (70) (71). The multicast reception request may be an IGMP Membership Report or an MLD Listener Report, but in this embodiment, the multicast reception request protocol is not limited.

  FIG. 17 shows an operation example based on the eighth embodiment, but the operation example based on the ninth embodiment is the same. However, the operation based on the ninth embodiment is different in that, in the multicast distribution control server 1, the destination to which the control unit 13 inquires about an address request is not the content management table 15 but the multicast management table 12.

Example 11
Embodiment 11 of the present invention will be described with reference to the multicast distribution control server configuration example in FIG. 18, the recipient management table configuration example in FIG. 19, and the operation example in FIG.
Example 11 of the present invention differs from Example 10 in that a recipient management table 16 is provided as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 19, the recipient management table 16 includes a recipient identifier 16a and authentication information 16b. The relationship between the receiver identifier 16a and the authentication information 16b is registered in advance.
The recipient identifier 16a may be a password, an IP address, or the like, but the present invention does not limit the recipient authentication method.

Next, the operation of the eleventh embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
In the eleventh embodiment, the operations up to the content registration are the same as those in the tenth embodiment. The operation in the case where the multicast distribution control server receives an address request from the recipient is different from that in the eleventh embodiment.

  When receiving the address request from the receiving device, the multicast distribution control server 1 receives the authentication information from the receiver management table 16 ′ using the notified recipient identifier and compares it with the authentication information notified from the receiver. Thus, the recipient is authenticated (72) (73) (74). If the authentication is successful, the multicast address is notified to the recipient by the same operation as in the embodiment 10 (75).

Example 12
A twelfth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to a configuration example of the recipient management table 16 ′ in FIG. 21 and an operation example in FIG. The multicast distribution control server configuration is the same as in the eleventh embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 21, the recipient management table 16 ′ is different from the configuration of the eleventh embodiment in that a multicast address 16c is registered.

Next, the operation of the twelfth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
The twelfth embodiment differs from the eleventh embodiment in that the recipient identifier 16a is clearly specified in the distribution request. There may be one or more recipient identifiers 16a. In the twelfth embodiment, if the multicast address is successfully registered in the content management table 15 by the operation of the eleventh embodiment, the multicast address is registered for the receiver identifier permitted to be received in the receiver management table 16 ′ (76). ) (77) (78) (79) (80) (81).

  The recipient management table 16 'of the multicast distribution control server 1 also specifies the multicast address in the received information response, and performs multicast address verification in the recipient authentication (82) (83) (84).

1 is a system configuration example of Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 6 is a configuration example of a multicast address management table according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a configuration example of a distributor management table according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 6 is an operation example of Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 6 is an operation example of Embodiment 2 of the present invention. 6 is an operation example of Embodiment 3 of the present invention. 10 is an operation example of Embodiment 4 of the present invention. 10 is an operation example of Embodiment 5 of the present invention. It is a multicast delivery control server structural example of Example 6 of this invention. 10 is an operation example of Embodiment 6 of the present invention. 10 is an operation example of Embodiment 7 of the present invention. 10 is a configuration example of a multicast distribution control server according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention. It is an example of a content management table structure of Example 8 of this invention. 9 is an operation example of Embodiment 8 of the present invention. It is a structural example of the multicast address management table of Example 9 of this invention. 10 is an operation example of Embodiment 9 of the present invention. 10 is an operation example of Embodiment 10 of the present invention. It is a multicast delivery control server structural example of Example 11 of this invention. It is a recipient management table structural example of Example 11 of this invention. 14 is an operation example of Embodiment 11 of the present invention. It is a recipient management table structural example of Example 12 of this invention. 18 is an operation example of Embodiment 12 of the present invention. It is a system configuration example of a conventional system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Multicast delivery control server 2 Distributor accommodation router 3 Distribution apparatus 4 IP multicast network 5 Receiving apparatus 6 Receiver accommodation router 11, 11 'Multicast address management table 12 Distributor management table 13 Control part 14 Charging log database 15 Content management table 16 Recipient management table 21 Packet filter

Claims (12)

Used for multicast communication in IP networks,
The IP network is provided with a distributor accommodating router having a multicast distribution control function and a packet filter function,
The multicast delivery control function is
A multicast address management function for storing a multicast address and whether the multicast address is in use or unused;
A distributor management function for storing distributor information, a router address of a distributor accommodating router that accommodates the distributor, and a distributor accommodating port number;
A control unit that receives the distribution request, authenticates based on the distributor information, returns a response to the distributor, and controls the packet filter of the distributor accommodating router;
When receiving a distribution request, the multicast distribution control function authenticates by referring to the distributor information, and if permitted, the router address of the distributor accommodating router to which the distributor is connected and the distributor accommodating A packet filter setting for the distributor accommodating port of the distributor is controlled for the distributor accommodating router using a port number and an unused multicast address, and only the multicast address is permitted to be transferred. IP multicast distribution control system. The multicast address management function and the control unit of the multicast distribution control function include an unused multicast address notification function,
When the multicast distribution control function receives a distribution request and permits authentication,
Notify the distributor of all unused multicast addresses,
2. The IP multicast distribution according to claim 1, wherein when a multicast address desired to be used is notified from a distributor, the multicast address notified from the distributor is used as a multicast address set in the distributor accommodating router. Control system.   2. The multicast distribution control function, when receiving a distribution end request, cancels the transfer permission of the packet filter set in the distributor accommodating router at the time of the distribution request, and changes the multicast address to unused. Alternatively, the IP multicast distribution control system according to 2. The distributor accommodating router includes a timer for monitoring reception of a multicast packet,
This timer is updated when a multicast packet that is permitted to be transferred is received at the distributor accommodating port that is permitted to transfer,
Alternatively, if a multicast packet whose transfer is permitted for a predetermined time is not received, the transfer permission setting of the packet filter is canceled to notify the multicast distribution control function of the end of distribution,
When the multicast distribution control function receives a distribution end notification from the distributor accommodating router,
3. The IP multicast distribution control system according to claim 1, wherein the multicast address of the multicast address management function is changed to unused. The distributor accommodating router includes a timer for monitoring a multicast reception request, and this timer is updated when a reception request for the multicast address permitted to transfer is received,
Alternatively, if a multicast reception request that permits transfer from any port is not received for a predetermined time,
Cancel the transfer permission setting of the packet filter, notify the multicast distribution control function of the end of distribution,
When the multicast distribution control function receives a distribution end notification from the distributor accommodating router,
3. The IP multicast distribution control system according to claim 1, wherein the multicast address of the multicast address management function is changed to unused. The multicast delivery control function includes a billing log collection function,
When an unused multicast address is acquired from the multicast address management function, a multicast address, a distributor identifier of a distributor who uses the multicast address, and a use start time are recorded as a use start log.
In the multicast address management function, when the multicast address is unused or succeeded, the multicast address, the distributor identifier of the distributor who uses the multicast address, and the use end time are recorded as a use end log. The IP multicast distribution control system according to claim 3 or 5, wherein   The IP multicast distribution control system according to claim 6, wherein the multicast distribution control function notifies the distributor of the log contents after recording the use start log and the use end log.   The multicast distribution control function includes a content management function. The multicast distribution control function receives a content name in addition to the information according to claim 1 or 2 in the distribution request, and the multicast distribution control function In the item 1 or 2, when the packet filter setting of the distributor accommodating router is successful, the content management function registers the multicast address and the content name, and the multicast distribution control function The IP multicast distribution control system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the content management function deletes the registered multicast address and content name if the packet filter setting of the router is successfully canceled.   The IP multicast distribution control function according to claim 8, wherein the multicast address management function includes a content management function.   10. The IP multicast distribution control system according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the receiving apparatus connected to the IP network accesses the multicast distribution control function prior to sending the multicast reception request, and the multicast distribution control function notifies the multicast address. An IP multicast distribution control system.   11. The IP multicast distribution control system according to claim 10, wherein the multicast distribution control function has a receiver management function, and performs receiver authentication before notifying the receiver of the multicast address registered in the content management function. The IP multicast distribution control system is characterized in that the multicast distribution control function notifies the multicast address only when authentication is successful.   12. The IP multicast distribution control system according to claim 11, wherein the receiver management function includes a function of managing a multicast address that can be received for each receiver, and the distributor designates the receiver when registering the content, An IP multicast distribution control system, which distributes only to recipients permitted by a distributor.

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