Patent ID: 8160065

Claim:
A device for enabling access to data from a channel, the device comprising: a storage medium for storing multicast data from the channel as it is received at an access network element; and a controller configured to enable the functions of: after detecting at the access network element that multicast data from the channel has been requested, the channel being a channel for which no data is presently stored on a storage medium, commencing storage of at least a portion of the multicast data from the channel on the storage medium as the multicast data is received at the access network element; and in the event of receiving at the access network element a subsequent request associated with a user device to receive data from the channel, transmitting the data from the storage medium to the user device via unicast until a condition is met indicating that a user of the user device has settled on the channel, and in response to said condition being met, ceasing said unicast transmission and commencing transmission of data from said channel to said user device via multicast, wherein said condition is met if a buffer of the user device which receives the unicast data reaches a predetermined level sufficient to indicate that the user has settled on the channel.