Patent ID: 8260947

Claim:
A media delivery apparatus provided on a network at a network location between a server and a client, the media delivery apparatus for relaying media data which is streaming-delivered from the server through the network to the client, the media delivery apparatus comprising a receiving portion for receiving packets transmitted from the server to the network, and a storage device, wherein: each of the packets contains a media data element which is a segment of the media data, and is constructed according to a predetermined protocol; and the receiving portion is configured to: extract the media data element from a handled packet, store the media data element having been extracted, using a storing process operating without regard to interpretation of a media format of the media data by associating the media data element with correspondence information enabling reconstructing of a reconstructed packet having a same construction as that of the handled packet containing the media data element, the correspondence information associating together with each other: header information containing at least one parameter of the media format of the handled packet; reception time information of the handled packet, the time information being a time of reception of the handled packet at the media delivery apparatus from the server relative to a time of reception of a predetermined reference handled packet from the server; and pointer information defining a storage space where the media data element is stored in the storage device, the pointer information for extracting the media data element to be contained in the reconstructed packet from the storage device, wherein the correspondence information is stored separately from the media data element; and wherein the media delivery apparatus further comprises a delivery portion for reconstructing the reconstructed packet having the same construction on a basis of the correspondence information for reconstructing the another packet, and transmitting the reconstructed packet to the network at a timing in accordance with the reception time information.