Patent ID: 7215679

Claim:
A method comprising: associating each of at least one group of packets forming a bitstream with a stream identifier and a respective sequence code, said at least one group of packets comprising at least one bitstream packet; transmitting, via any one of a plurality of available transmission channels, each of said at least one group of packets, said transmission channels nominally transmitting NULL packets in the event of underutilization, said at least one group of packets being transmitted in place of said nominally transmitted NULL packets to minimize the underutilization of said transmission channels; and adapting a packet structure for at least one packet of said at least one group of packets to conform to a network packet structure suitable for use by said transmission channels, wherein said network packet structure includes transmission channel and time of transmission information for identifying a particular one or more of the plurality of available transmission channels and a corresponding one or more times for one or more subsequent transmissions that include any remaining packets forming the bitstream to allow a corresponding receiver to expect the remaining packets on the identified particular one or more of the plurality of available transmission channels at the corresponding one or more times.