Patent ID: 8644162

Claim:
An apparatus operable to communicate programs over networks, comprising: a receiver operable to receive a user selection of a program; a router operable to select among a plurality of paths of a network communicatively coupling the apparatus to a presentation device, the plurality of paths including network path segments not directly connected to the router; a network formatter operable to format the selected program into information compatible with a communication format used by each of the plurality of paths, and operable to transmit the formatted program to the router; and a network performance assessor operable to: assess performance of the network including network path segments not directly connected to the network performance assessor; determine an occurrence of a capacity constraint on the network; access a priority system having a stored, prioritized selection of actions to be taken in response to the occurrence of the capacity constraint; cause the router to select one of the plurality of paths to the presentation device, the selected path being a non-networked direct connection to the presentation device; communicate control signals to the presentation device to indicate the selection of the direct connection; and cause the network formatter to modify the program to the format of the selected path.