Patent ID: 7603022

Claim:
A method for networking a plurality of television recording devices, said method comprising the steps of: receiving a plurality of television signals; selecting a set of tuners from a plurality of tuners available on a home-based network, the selected set of tuners residing within the home-based network; tuning each of said television signals in one of the tuners selected from the plurality of tuners; buffering said television signals on a storage medium in at least one PVR media server, the PVR media server configured for maintaining a read position and a write position for the buffering, the PVR media server residing within the home-based networks, the buffering comprising a configurable type buffer that has a configurable size for permitting storage of a selectable time duration of the television signals, the configurable type buffer for providing buffering of the television signals continuously by using the selectable time duration; setting a set of boundary conditions for the read position and the write position; generating an event when the read position falls behind the write position an amount greater than the buffer size; advancing the read position in response to the generated event while the write position advanced as a television signal is received; coupling a plurality of clients, over the home-based network, to said PVR media server; assigning at least two of said clients to one or more of said tuners; and transferring, over said home-based network, buffered television signals to said clients.