Patent ID: 8190674

Claim:
A method comprising: receiving, by a server device, a request for media content from a client device; initiating, by the server device, delivery of portions of the requested media content, that are encoded for a first bit rate, to the client device; determining, by the server device, that the delivery of the portions of the requested media content that are encoded for the first bit rate can be changed to a delivery of portions of the requested media content that are encoded for a second bit rate, the second bit rate being different than the first bit rate; stopping, by the server device and upon the determination that delivery of the portions of the requested media content that are encoded for the first bit rate can be changed to delivery of portions of the requested media content that are encoded for a second bit rate, the delivery of the portions of the requested media content to the client device that are encoded for the first bit rate; and delivering, by the server device, the portions of the requested media content, that are encoded for the second bit rate and from a point in the requested media content that the delivery of the portions of the requested media content that are encoded for the first bit rate was stopped, to the client device, the delivering the portions of the requested media content further comprising: stopping the delivery of the portions of the requested media content, that are encoded for the first bit rate, at the end of a media portion chunk of the requested media content that is encoded for the first bit rate; and delivering the portions of the requested media content, that are encoded for the second bit rate, from a beginning of a media portion chunk, of the requested media content that is encoded for the second bit rate, the beginning of the media portion chunk of the requested media content being encoded for the second bit rate and being sequential in time with the end of the media portion chunk of the requested media content that is encoded for the first bit rate.