Patent ID: 8050289

Claim:
A method of transmitting a media item from a media source to a media player, the method comprising: determining communication channels available for transmitting the media item from the media source to the media player, the available communication channels including at least a first communication channel provided over a first type of physical medium and a second communication channel provided over a second type of physical medium, the second type of physical medium different from the first type of physical medium; converting the media item into a plurality of packets of a format adapted for transmitting over combined bandwidth of the available communication channels, each of the plurality of packets including a header indicating a type of communication channel over which each of the plurality of packets should travel; adding error resilience to the plurality of packets; transmitting each of the plurality of packets with error resilience to the media player over the type of communication channel available and indicated in the header of each of the plurality of packets; detecting whether another media source is communicating over the first communication channel; and resolving a conflict over use of the first communication channels with the other media source using a predetermined scheme.