Patent ID: 8812662

Claim:
A method of selecting an initial stream of encoded media from a plurality of streams of encoded media that are encoded at different maximum bitrates rates, the method comprising: measuring network bandwidth using a playback device; determining, prior to commencing streaming of encoded media, an initial network bandwidth estimate using the network bandwidth measurements, wherein the initial network bandwidth estimate is determined by filtering the network bandwidth measurements based upon at least one piece of information associated with the network bandwidth measurements selected from the group consisting of time of day, day of week, content distribution network, server, and maximum bitrate; selecting an initial stream from said plurality of streams of encoded media that are encoded at different maximum bitrates rates using the playback device for commencing streaming of encoded media based upon the maximum bitrates of the plurality of streams and the initial network bandwidth estimate, where the initial stream is selected by initially allocating available bandwidth to streams which have no alternative and allocating the remaining bandwidth to the selection from the plurality of streams of encoded media that are encoded at different maximum bitrates; and commencing streaming of encoded media by requesting portions of the encoded media from the streams which have no alternative and the selected initial stream using the playback device.