Skip to main content

4.5. PIM Join/Prune Messages

PIM Join/Prune messages are used to build and maintain multicast distribution trees.

Message Types:

  • (*,G) Join: Join shared tree for all sources to group G
  • (S,G) Join: Join source-specific tree from source S to group G
  • (S,G,rpt) Prune: Prune source S from shared tree for group G
  • (*,G) Prune: Prune all sources from shared tree

Key Mechanisms:

  • Periodic Refresh: Join/Prune state maintained by periodic message refresh
  • Upstream Neighbors: Messages sent to RPF neighbor towards source or RP
  • Aggregation: Multiple Join/Prune entries in single message for efficiency
  • Holdtime: Specifies how long receiver should maintain state

State Machine: Join/Prune messages trigger state transitions in the TIB, affecting forwarding behavior.

note

For detailed Join/Prune message format, encoding, and state machine specifications, see Section 4.5 of RFC 7761.