Patent ID: 7096327

Claim:
A system for periodically fetching blocks of data from a storage medium and supplying the blocks in the form of streams, wherein the blocks of data are fetched from a file comprising logically successive clusters, a cluster having a cluster size C and having physically successive storage sectors for holding the data, the system comprising: admission control means for controlling the admission of a new stream having a maximum bit rate c max , and read means for in a period of maximum duration P fetching blocks of data from the storage medium for respective ones of the streams, wherein the admission control means is arranged: to determine a minimal block size B lower for the blocks for the new stream whereby a block of size B lower is sufficiently large to sustain consumption at rate c max during a period of length P, to determine the number of times k a block of size B lower fits in the cluster of size C, to determine for k blocks to be used for reading the cluster a respective block size by evenly partitioning the cluster size C into the k block sizes so as to arrange that the cluster can be completely read by means of the k blocks, and to determine the minimal block size B lower according to the following equation: B lower =P·c max.