Patent ID: 7555006
Filing Date: 2009-06-30
Classification: H04N

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for downloading video content to a client device over a communication network, the apparatus comprising: an encoder for encoding video content according to an initial video encoding standard and an initial video encoding rate; a storage unit coupled to the encoder for storing the encoded video content; a transcoder coupled to the storage unit for transcoding the video content stored in the storage unit according to a modified video encoding standard and a modified video encoding rate; a communications interface coupled to the transcoder for downloading the video content to the client device over the communication network; and a controller coupled to and controlling the storage unit, the encoder, the transcoder, and the communications interface, the controller monitoring and determining a transmission rate of the communication network and a number of a plurality of other client devices and adaptively selecting the modified video encoding standard and the modified video encoding rate based on the determined transmission rate and the number of the plurality of other client devices.