Patent ID: 7451205

Claim:
A method for streaming media data to a mobile client device, said method comprising: receiving information sufficient for determining a predicted position of said mobile client device; identifying a server that will stream said media data to an area including said predicted position upon said mobile client device arriving in said area; identifying a number of neighborhood of servers that are centered around and include said identified server that are selected to receive said media data, wherein said identifying further comprises identifying the number of servers to be included in said neighborhood of servers according to dynamic server loads enabling the number of servers included in said neighborhood to vary based on said dynamic server loads and based on an amount of uncertainty in the determined predicted position; informing said neighborhood of servers about said mobile client device, wherein said informing comprises said neighborhood of servers obtaining from a source server at least a portion of said media data not previously obtained by said identified server, wherein said obtaining occurs prior to said mobile client device arriving at said predicted position, and wherein said source server is not required to be one of said neighborhood of servers; and selecting a server from said neighborhood of servers to stream said media data to said mobile client device with said mobile client device in said area serviced by said selected server.