IPv6 multicast provides support for intradomain multicast routing using PIM-SM. PIM-SM uses unicast routing to provide reverse-path information for multicast tree building, but it is not dependent on any particular unicast routing protocol.

PIM-SM is used in a multicast network when relatively few switches are involved in each multicast and these switches do not forward multicast packets for a group, unless there is an explicit request for the traffic. PIM-SM distributes information about active sources by forwarding data packets on the shared tree. PIM-SM initially uses shared trees, which requires the use of an RP.

Requests are accomplished via PIM joins, which are sent hop by hop toward the root node of the tree. The root node of a tree in PIM-SM is the RP in the case of a shared tree or the first-hop switch that is directly connected to the multicast source in the case of a shortest path tree (SPT). The RP keeps track of multicast groups and the hosts that send multicast packets are registered with the RP by that host's first-hop switch.

As a PIM join travels up the tree, switches along the path set up multicast forwarding state so that the requested multicast traffic will be forwarded back down the tree. When multicast traffic is no longer needed, a switch sends a PIM prune up the tree toward the root node to prune (or remove) the unnecessary traffic. As this PIM prune travels hop by hop up the tree, each switch updates its forwarding state appropriately. Ultimately, the forwarding state associated with a multicast group or source is removed.

A multicast data sender sends data destined for a multicast group. The designated switch (DR) of the sender takes those data packets, unicast-encapsulates them, and sends them directly to the RP. The RP receives these encapsulated data packets, de-encapsulates them, and forwards them onto the shared tree. The packets then follow the (*, G) multicast tree state in the switches on the RP tree, being replicated wherever the RP tree branches, and eventually reaching all the receivers for that multicast group. The process of encapsulating data packets to the RP is called registering, and the encapsulation packets are called PIM register packets.

PIM switches in a domain must be able to map each multicast group to the correct RP address. The BSR protocol for PIM-SM provides a dynamic, adaptive mechanism to distribute group-to-RP mapping information rapidly throughout a domain. With the IPv6 BSR feature, if an RP becomes unreachable, it will be detected and the mapping tables will be modified so that the unreachable RP is no longer used, and the new tables will be rapidly distributed throughout the domain.

Every PIM-SM multicast group needs to be associated with the IP or IPv6 address of an RP. When a new multicast sender starts sending, its local DR will encapsulate these data packets in a PIM register message and send them to the RP for that multicast group. When a new multicast receiver joins, its local DR will send a PIM join message to the RP for that multicast group. When any PIM switch sends a (*, G) join message, the PIM switch needs to know which is the next switch toward the RP so that G (Group) can send a message to that switch. Also, when a PIM switch is forwarding data packets using (*, G) state, the PIM switch needs to know which is the correct incoming interface for packets destined for G, because it needs to reject any packets that arrive on other interfaces.

A small set of switches from a domain are configured as candidate bootstrap switches (C-BSRs) and a single BSR is selected for that domain. A set of switches within a domain are also configured as candidate RPs (C-RPs); typically, these switches are the same switches that are configured as C-BSRs. Candidate RPs periodically unicast candidate-RP-advertisement (C-RP-Adv) messages to the BSR of that domain, advertising their willingness to be an RP. A C-RP-Adv message includes the address of the advertising C-RP, and an optional list of group addresses and mask length fields, indicating the group prefixes for which the candidacy is advertised. The BSR then includes a set of these C-RPs, along with their corresponding group prefixes, in bootstrap messages (BSMs) it periodically originates. BSMs are distributed hop-by-hop throughout the domain.

Bidirectional BSR support allows bidirectional RPs to be advertised in C-RP messages and bidirectional ranges in the BSM. All switches in a system must be able to use the bidirectional range in the BSM; otherwise, the bidirectional RP feature will not function.

PIM-SSM is the routing protocol that supports the implementation of SSM and is derived from PIM-SM. However, unlike PIM-SM where data from all multicast sources are sent when there is a PIM join, the SSM feature forwards datagram traffic to receivers from only those multicast sources that the receivers have explicitly joined, thus optimizing bandwidth utilization and denying unwanted Internet broadcast traffic. Further, instead of the use of RP and shared trees, SSM uses information found on source addresses for a multicast group. This information is provided by receivers through the source addresses relayed to the last-hop switches by MLD membership reports, resulting in shortest-path trees directly to the sources.

In SSM, delivery of datagrams is based on (S, G) channels. Traffic for one (S, G) channel consists of datagrams with an IPv6 unicast source address S and the multicast group address G as the IPv6 destination address. Systems will receive this traffic by becoming members of the (S, G) channel. Signaling is not required, but receivers must subscribe or unsubscribe to (S, G) channels to receive or not receive traffic from specific sources.

MLD version 2 is required for SSM to operate. MLD allows the host to provide source information. Before SSM can run with MLD, SSM must be supported in the Cisco IOS IPv6 switch, the host where the application is running, and the application itself.

When an IPv6 interior gateway protocol is used to build the unicast routing table, the procedure to detect the upstream switch address assumes the address of a PIM neighbor is always same as the address of the next-hop switch, as long as they refer to the same switch. However, it may not be the case when a switch has multiple addresses on a link.

Two typical situations can lead to this situation for IPv6. The first situation can occur when the unicast routing table is not built by an IPv6 interior gateway protocol such as multicast BGP. The second situation occurs when the address of an RP shares a subnet prefix with downstream switches (note that the RP switch address has to be domain-wide and therefore cannot be a link-local address).

The routable address hello option allows the PIM protocol to avoid such situations by adding a PIM hello message option that includes all the addresses on the interface on which the PIM hello message is advertised. When a PIM switch finds an upstream switch for some address, the result of RPF calculation is compared with the addresses in this option, in addition to the PIM neighbor's address itself. Because this option includes all the possible addresses of a PIM switch on that link, it always includes the RPF calculation result if it refers to the PIM switch supporting this option.

Because of size restrictions on PIM messages and the requirement that a routable address hello option fits within a single PIM hello message, a limit of 16 addresses can be configured on the interface.

The PIM stub routing feature reduces resource usage by moving routed traffic closer to the end user.

In a network using PIM stub routing, the only allowable route for IPv6 traffic to the user is through a switch that is configured with PIM stub routing. PIM passive interfaces are connected to Layer 2 access domains, such as VLANs, or to interfaces that are connected to other Layer 2 devices. Only directly connected multicast receivers and sources are allowed in the Layer 2 access domains. The PIM passive interfaces do not send or process any received PIM control packets.

When using PIM stub routing, you should configure the distribution and remote routers to use IPv6 multicast routing and configure only the switch as a PIM stub router. The switch does not route transit traffic between distribution routers. You also need to configure a routed uplink port on the switch. The switch uplink port cannot be used with SVIs.

You must also configure EIGRP stub routing when configuring PIM stub routing on the switch.

The redundant PIM stub router topology is not supported. The redundant topology exists when there is more than one PIM router forwarding multicast traffic to a single access domain. PIM messages are blocked, and the PIM assert and designated router election mechanisms are not supported on the PIM passive interfaces. Only the non-redundant access router topology is supported by the PIM stub feature. By using a non-redundant topology, the PIM passive interface assumes that it is the only interface and designated router on that access domain.

In the figure shown below, Switch A routed uplink port 25 is connected to the router and PIM stub routing is enabled on the VLAN 100 interfaces and on Host 3. This configuration allows the directly connected hosts to receive traffic from multicast source.