Patent ID: 9635080
Date: 2017-04-25
CPC Classifications: H04L,H04N

Claim:
1. A method, comprising: receiving, at a content server, a first request for a media stream from a client device transmitted via a network; transmitting from a communications interface at the content server a first quality level media stream at a first bit rate to an initial playback buffer established at the client device, the client device including a hardware processor configured to begin playback of the first quality level media stream after an initial playback threshold in the initial playback buffer is reached; and receiving, at the content server, a second request for a second quality level media stream at a second bit rate different than the first bit rate after an initial quality threshold in the initial playback buffer is reached at the client device, the client device configured to establish a modified playback buffer if the initial playback buffer depletes, wherein the modified playback buffer has a modified playback threshold higher than the initial playback threshold, the second request received via the network.