Method, apparatus, and system for switching channels

An apparatus for switching channels, comprising:

• a buffering module, configured to buffer a multicast Internet Protocol (IP) packet of a live channel;
• a pushing module, configured to receive a channel switching request sent by a client for switching to the live channel, and push the multicast IP packet buffered by the buffering module to the client;
• a judging module, configured to judge whether the multicast IP packet pushed by the pushing module is synchronous to a real-time multicast IP packet of the live channel;
• and
• a sending module, configured to send the real-time multicast IP packet to the client if the judging module determines that the pushed multicast IP packet is synchronous to the real-time multicast IP packet;
• wherein, further comprising a setting module, configured to retrieve a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the client from the channel switching request, and set a destination MAC address of the buffered multicast IP packet to the MAC address of the client.

A system for switching channels, comprising:

• a multicast source, configured to send a multicast Internet Protocol (IP) packet of a live channel to a channel switching apparatus;
• the channel switching apparatus, configured to:
• buffer the multicast IP packet sent by the multicast source, receive a channel switching request sent by a client for switching to the live channel, retrieve a Media Access Control (MAC) address of the client from the channel switching request, and set a destination MAC address of the buffered multicast IP packet to the MAC address of the client, and push the buffered multicast IP packet to the client;
• judge whether the pushed multicast IP packet is synchronous to a real-time multicast IP packet of the live channel;
• and stop pushing the buffered multicast IP packet to the client and send the real-time multicast IP packet to the client if the pushed multicast IP packet is synchronous to the real-time multicast IP packet;
• and
• the client, configured to receive the real-time multicast IP packet of the live channel or the multicast IP packet buffered by the channel switching apparatus.