Patent ID: 6941378

Claim:
A method for assigning servers to provide multiple description bitstreams to a base station, said method comprising: upon receiving a request from a mobile client to have media data streamed thereto, said media data comprising an item of content encoded into a first multiple description bitstream and into a second multiple description bitstream, wherein said first multiple description bitstream and said second multiple description bitstream are decodable independent of one another, analyzing a plurality of servers to determine a first candidate server for providing said first multiple description bitstream to said base station along a first path and a second candidate server for providing said second multiple description bitstream to said base station along a second path; sending to said first candidate server a request for said first candidate server to provide said first multiple description bitstream to said base station; and sending to said second candidate server a request for said second candidate server to provide said second multiple description bitstream to said base station.