Patent ID: 7464172

Claim:
In a network including a server and a plurality of clients, a method for achieving simultaneous media playout, the method comprising: from a server, supplying a media stream data as media packets with a timestamp as a broadcast, to a plurality of clients at a first bitrate (R 1 ); determining the network delivery requirement, including the first minimum client buffering capacity (C 1 ) of each client by; polling the clients for their respective buffering capacities; determining which client has the smallest buffering capacity; and, selecting the first minimum buffering capacity (C 1 ) to be equal to the client with the smallest buffering capacity; in response to the network delivery requirements, modifying the supply of the media stream to enable simultaneous playout of media packets at the plurality of clients; at each client, scheduling media playout to be at a time equal to a first time interval (t 1 ) plus the minimum buffering capacity divided by the first bitrate (C 1 /R 1 ) by: at each client, reordering out-of-order media packets; at each client, handling any lost media packets; and at each client, scheduling the playout of the media packets at a uniform rate in response to the media type and the first bitrate (R 1 ).