Patent ID: 8488661

Claim:
A method comprising: determining, by a first network device, a desired transmission bit rate associated with content to be streamed from a second network device; determining, by the first network device and prior to the content being streamed, a first data stream bit rate for a data stream through a network between the first network device and the second network device; identifying, by the first network device, a first quantity of data streams through the network based on the desired transmission bit rate and the first data stream bit rate, a first combined bit rate of the first quantity of data streams being equal to or greater than the desired transmission bit rate; initiating, by the first network device, streaming of first portions of the content on the first quantity of data streams from the second network device, the first portions of the content being streamed at a first block size; reassembling, in a memory associated with the first network device, the streamed first portions to provide a single data stream; determining, by the first network device and after streaming of the first portions, a status of the memory; calculating, by the first network device, at a second block size based on the determined status of the memory; determining, by the first network device and using the second block size, a second data stream bit rate for a data stream, between the first network device and the second network device, after the streaming of the first portions; identifying, by the first network device, a second quantity of data streams through the network based on the desired transmission bit rate and the second data stream bit rate, a second combined bit rate of the second quantity of data streams being equal to or greater than the desired transmission bit rate; and initiating, by the first network device, streaming of second portions of the content on the second quantity of data streams from the second network device, the second portions of the content being streamed at the second block size.