Patent ID: 8406254

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving a plurality of live media streams at a content server; buffering the plurality of live media streams, the plurality of live media streams including a plurality of packets having timing information and sequence number information; determining aggregate bandwidth usage for the plurality of live media streams at time t 0 , time t 1 , and time t 2 , wherein each of the plurality of live media streams, including time t 0 packets, time t 1 packets, and time t 2 packets, is requested by a plurality of users for playback at a scheduled time corresponding to live presentation; determining an aggregate bandwidth usage peak for the plurality of live media streams, wherein an aggregate bandwidth usage peak for the plurality of live media streams is identified at time t 2 ; transmitting time t 1 packets at time t 0 and a portion of the time t 2 packets at time t 1 , wherein the remaining time t 2 packets are transmitted at time t 2 .