Patent ID: 7788394

Claim:
A method for streaming content over an Internet Protocol (IP) network by a content provider having a content control server and a content-streaming server, the method comprising the steps of: the content control server receiving a first request via signaling from a destination device to set-up a content-streaming session; the content control server setting up the content-streaming session in response to the first request, wherein an IP address and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) port at the IP address of the content-streaming server is provided to a destination device; the content-streaming server receiving an upstream message from the destination device to establish a bi-directional communication link therebetween, the upstream message containing session specific information that references the set-up content-streaming session and is used to establish direct communication with the content-streaming server, which uses an IP address and port number of the destination device of the upstream message as the destination IP address and port number in accordance with the set-up content-streaming session; the content control server receiving a second request via signaling to initiate streaming of the content for the set-up content-streaming session, the second request includes session set-up information, and the content control server instructs the content streaming server to start streaming content for the set-up content-streaming session; and the content-streaming server streaming the content to the destination device in response to the session start instructions from the content control server as initiated by the second request.