Patent ID: 8837488

Claim:
A system for sending media over an IP network to media rendering devices, comprising: an internet protocol communication network; a first plurality of one or more first media rendering devices that take a first media data type and adapted to communicate with the communication network; a second plurality of zero or more second media rendering devices that take a second media data type that is different from the first media data type adapted to communicate with the communication network; and a media source adapted to communicate with the communication network and having access to media containing media data of the first media data type and of the second media data type, wherein the media data is grouped into packets of data wherein each packet comprises a set of media data, a reference counter field and a unique sequentially incrementing packet sequence number stored in a packet sequence number field; wherein the media source further comprises a primary packet buffer for holding data packets of the first media data type and a plurality of virtual packet buffers each comprising a plurality of packet sequence number references corresponding to a plurality of data packets of the first media data type that are contained in the primary packet buffer, each virtual packet buffer being associated with only one of the first plurality of media rendering devices; wherein a first packet of the first media data type is put in the primary packet buffer and a packet sequence number reference to the first packet is placed in each of the first virtual packet buffers, and the references counter field of the packet is set to the number of the first virtual packet buffers that have a packet sequence number reference to the first packet; and wherein the first packet in the first virtual packet buffer is sent to the first media rendering device.