Patent ID: 7804831

Claim:
A method, comprising: storing packets of a media stream in a buffer of an access node, wherein said packets are stored based on decision information used to determine whether or not to temporarily store all received packets of the media stream as the buffer receives them and wherein said decision information includes at least one of a particular number of requests for receiving the media stream received at the access node within a specified period of time and a number of recipients presently viewing the video stream when such media stream is received by the buffer; receiving from a decoder a request for reception of the media stream; and unicasting at least a portion of said packets of the media stream from the access node directly to the decoder in response to receiving the request for reception; and performing said unicasting such that packet transmission of said unicasting is in temporal alignment with packet transmission of a corresponding media stream being provided to a plurality of other decoders via multicasting from the access node, wherein unicasting said packets such that packet transmission of said unicasting is in temporal alignment with packet transmission of said corresponding multicast media stream includes selectively discarding a portion of said unicast packets; providing the media stream to the decoder via said multicasting after said packet transmission of said unicasting is brought into temporal alignment with packet transmission of the corresponding media stream; and terminating said unicasting.