Patent ID: 8849899

Claim:
A network communications system, comprising: an internet gateway server positioned at a mobile broadband access point and configured to: establish client-side connections between the internet gateway server and a plurality of client devices via a client-side access network forming a mobile broadband wireless access network; enable communications between each of the client devices and corresponding server devices via the client-side access network, the internet gateway server, and a server-side wide area network; monitor the client devices to identify a subset of the client devices that are actively connected to the internet gateway server via the client-side access network and that opt-in to accelerated transmission of media data in which the subset of client devices are utilized to cache chunks of media data requested by other client devices via peer-to-peer connections; maintain a record at a data store of the internet gateway server of media data chunks cached at each client device of the subset of client devices actively connected to the internet gateway server, the record organized by a media identifier and a corresponding media data chunk identifier for each media data chunk, and a client identifier for each of the client devices; receive a request from a first client device of the subset of client devices actively connected to the internet gateway server for a media data item stored at a media server device connected or connectable to the internet gateway server via the server-side wide area network; identify a media identifier for the media data item based, at least in part, on a parameter of a URL of the request for the media data item, or based, at least in part, on a response received from the media server device; determine that a first target portion of the media data item corresponding to at least a first media data chunk is cached at a second client device of the subset of client devices actively connected to the internet gateway server based on the media identifier and the corresponding media data chunk identifier for the first media data chunk, and the client identifier for the second client device of the record; responsive to the request, instruct the first client device to establish corresponding peer-to-peer connections with the second client device over the client-side access network connected to the internet gateway server via the mobile broadband wireless access network, to request, and to receive the first target portion of the media data item from the second client device; retrieve a remainder of the media data item not cached at any of the client devices actively connected to the internet gateway server based on the record, by requesting the remainder of the media data item from the media server device, and receiving the remainder of the media data item from the media server device; and send the remainder of the media data item to the first client device.