Patent ID: 8578432

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving by a network device a program request from a transceiver that includes a program request to receive a video program at the transceiver, wherein the transceiver is associated with a subscriber; ascertaining by the network device an amount of bandwidth on a network channel available to the transceiver and all other transceivers being serviced by the network device via the network channel, the network device being connected to the network channel; determining by the network device whether to provide a unicast stream or a multicast stream to deliver the requested video program to the transceiver in response to the program request based on a result obtained after implementing a policy control function that considers the amount of bandwidth on the network channel available to the transceiver and all other transceivers serviced by the network device via the network channel, capabilities of the transceiver, and a subscriber profile of the subscriber, wherein the transceiver and all other transceivers served by the network device via the network channel are directly connected to the network channel; selecting a format and encoding type of a program offering of an incoming media stream by the network device in accordance with the capabilities of the transceiver and with the result of the policy control function to provide a corresponding formatted unicast or multicast media stream that includes video data for the requested video program; and outputting by the network device the associated formatted unicast or multicast media stream on the network channel.