The IP multicast technology and architecture were introduced,some popular IP multicast routing protocols and applications,such as Dense-Mode and Sparse-Mode,were reviewed,the prospect about IP multicast in the future was forecasted.

• 介绍了IP多播技术的发展及其体系结构；对密集模式协议和稀疏模式协议等常见的IP多播路由协议及其应用予以了述评；展望了IP多播技术的发展前景.