Patent ID: 7346698

Claim:
A synchronization system for time-based synchronization of streaming media transmitted over a communications network, comprising: an input interface adapted for linking to the communications network to receive a first and a second media stream, wherein the first and second media streams comprise a plurality of digital data packets being transmitted over the communications network from a first and a second media source, respectively, and wherein the first and the second media streams each include a streaming video portion; a first data buffer for storing the data packets of the first media stream; a second data buffer for storing the data packets of the second media stream; and a controller communicatively linked to the first and the second data buffers for selectively retrieving the data packets of the first and second media streams to form a first and a second time-adjusted stream, wherein the controller determines a variable transmission delay for the first and the second media streams from the first and second media sources to the input interface and performs the selective retrieving based on the determined variable transmission delays; wherein the controller is further configured for mixing the first and second time-adjusted streams into a composite media stream wherein the first and second time-adjusted streams are synchronized based on time.