US Patent 7418003 PIM sparse mode to source specific multicast conversion

A method, apparatus, or computer executable instructions for converting Protocol Independent Mode (PIM) requests. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving a first multicast routing protocol (MRP) message, wherein the first MRP message is a request to join a multicast group of receivers. The first MRP message is translated into a second MRP message, wherein the second MRP message is a request to join the multicast group of receivers to which data is being provided by a specific source. The method could be performed by a router contained in a sparse mode network, wherein the sparse mode network is coupled to a source specific mode network that contains the specific source.