Patent ID: 9036655
Filing Date: 2015-05-19
Classification: H04L,H04N

Abstract:
1. A method, comprising: receiving a first media stream including a first plurality of frames, the first media stream received at a streaming server and maintained in a first buffer, wherein a plurality of buffers at the streaming server are allocated on a per group of pictures (GOP) basis; receiving a second media stream including a second plurality of frames, the second media stream received at the streaming server and maintained in a second buffer; determining positions of a plurality of key frames in the first buffer and the second buffer, the plurality of key frames including a first key frame in the first buffer and a second key frame in the second buffer, wherein determining positions of the plurality of key frames includes determining at the streaming server each start of a GOP in a plurality of GOPs, wherein each start of a GOP is flagged as a key frame; receiving a channel change request from a client device receiving the first media stream, the channel change request corresponding to a switch from the first media stream to the second media stream; identifying a next available key frame associated with the second media stream, wherein the next available key frame is provided as the second key frame in response to the channel change request, wherein no predictive frames are transmitted at the beginning of the channel change request; and immediately sending the second key frame to the client device in response to receiving the channel change request, wherein sending the second key frame results in a time variance between receiving the second media stream on the client device and receiving the second media stream on a different client device.