Patent ID: 7334044

Claim:
A method for optimal multimedia content delivery over networks from a server to one or more clients, comprising: delineating a state variable that represents a data rate for delivery of multimedia content having a fixed duration and, wherein an initial data rate is equal to or greater than a minimum flow rate, and wherein the minimum flow rate ensures that all required content will be available to each client when needed, and a subsequent data rate, which is equal to or less than a real-time rate of play back of the multimedia content; delineating a set of conditions which represent time-varying constraints on the data rate of said multimedia content said conditions including: (1) the total data rate for all clients does not exceed the maximum throughput of the server or network, whichever is least; (2) the data rate from server to client does not exceed the maximum data rate for the client; (3) the data rate of the client will never overflow a client buffer; (4) the server will never underflow; and (5) the data rate from the server will never be less than the client's minimum data rate, and wherein the minimum data rate is a non-increasing function of time obtained by dividing the content not yet delivered by the remaining play time; delineating a cost function which represents the value of a proposed solution; performing periodic computations in compliance with conditions (1)-(5) to obtain a state value that maximizes said cost function; and periodically adjusting the data rate to each client to maintain an optimal solution over a given period of time.