Patent ID: 8214868

Claim:
Apparatus for distributing streaming multimedia to at least one end client over a network, the apparatus comprising: memory; and at least one processor operatively connected to the memory, the at least one processor being operative: (i) to receive the streaming multimedia from at least one multimedia source via at least one of a plurality of channels in the network; (ii) when a channel change request generated by the end client for changing a channel and corresponding multimedia content from the multimedia source is not detected, to deliver the at least one multimedia stream to the end client at a first data rate; and (iii) when the channel change request has been detected, to deliver the at least one multimedia stream to the end client at a second data rate for a prescribed duration of time after receiving the channel change request and, after the prescribed duration of time, to deliver the at least one multimedia stream to the end client at the first data rate, wherein the second data rate is greater than the first data rate; wherein the prescribed duration of time is determined as a function of a ratio of the second data rate to the first data rate and an amount of buffering of the at least one multimedia stream.