Patent ID: 7099951

Claim:
A multimedia system comprises: multimedia server operably coupled to receive a plurality of channels of a multimedia source, wherein the multimedia server includes: tuning module operably coupled to receive the plurality of channels and to select a set of channels from the plurality of channels based on a set of channel select commands that is derived from select requests; channel mixer operably coupled to mix the set of channels into a stream of channel data; and first transceiving module operably coupled to transmit the stream of channel data on to a first communication path and to receive the select requests; second transceiving module operably coupled to transmit the stream of channel data via a second communication path; control module operably coupled to the tuning module, the channel mixer, the first transceiving module and the second transceiving module, wherein the control module interprets the select requests to produce the set of channel select commands, wherein the control module facilitates formatting the stream of channel data for transmission via the first transceiving module and the second transceiving module, and wherein the control module facilitates deformatting of the select requests; and client module that produces the select requests for at least one of a plurality of clients, wherein the at least one of the plurality of clients is operably coupled to receive at least a portion of the stream of channel data, wherein the client module includes: selection module operable to produce at least one of the select requests; and network interface controller operably coupled to transmit the at least one of select requests to the multimedia server and to receive the stream of channel data via the first communication path.