Patent ID: 8848540

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for estimating buffering time of multimedia data packets received by a mobile device for efficient playout of multimedia applications by the receiving mobile device, the computer-implemented method comprising: determining at the receiving mobile device, a Quality of Service (QoS) of each of a plurality of wireless networks, wherein the QoS corresponding to each of the plurality of wireless networks is determined by initiating multimedia calls from the receiving mobile device over each of the plurality of wireless networks and recording information related to said multimedia calls; selecting, at the receiving mobile device, a wireless network for receiving a multimedia data stream, such that the determined QoS of the selected wireless network is highest among the plurality of wireless networks; commencing receiving the multimedia data stream at the receiving mobile device over the selected wireless network by initiating a multimedia call from the receiving mobile device over the selected wireless network; monitoring one or more conditions related to the selected wireless network and the mobile device, wherein the one or more conditions result in variation in delay of multimedia data packets within the multimedia data stream received at the mobile device; gathering information related to the one or more conditions pertaining to the selected wireless network and the mobile device; and estimating buffering time of multimedia data packets based on the gathered information, wherein data packets corresponding to one or more multimedia applications that are received by the mobile device are buffered for a predetermined time period before playout, the predetermined time period corresponds to the estimated buffering time.