IETF RFC 9465 PDF

In PIM Sparse Mode (PIM-SM) networks, PIM Null-Register messages are sent by the Designated Router (DR) to the Rendezvous Point (RP) to signal the presence of multicast sources in the network. There are periodic PIM Null-Registers sent from the DR to the RP to keep the state alive at the RP as long as the source is active. The PIM Null-Register message carries information about a single multicast source and group.

This document defines a standard to send information about multiple multicast sources and groups in a single PIM message. This document refers to the new messages as the "PIM Packed Null-Register message" and "PIM Packed Register-Stop message".