| IP multicast addresses at Layer 3 are
characterized as Class D addresses. The first four bits of IP Class
D addresses are 1110. This means that IP multicast addresses have a
valid range from 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255. Note that multicast
addresses from 224.0.0.0 to 224.0.0.255 are reserved. The reserved
addresses shown in the Figure are specifically relevant to
multicasting.
Usually, a network administrator
assigns a multicast address to the application and must select an
address not used by other applications or processes. The
administrator should not use a multicast address in the reserved
range.
|