Patent ID: 8626944

Claim:
A method of distributing from a first node to a plurality of recipient nodes a file encoded with multiple description coding, the method comprising: distributing a plurality of descriptors of a file encoded with multiple description coding (MDC) from a first node to a plurality of nodes of a first group of a plurality of different groups, the plurality of different groups comprising different nodes in different groups; wherein at least one descriptor is distributed from the first node directly to each of the plurality of nodes of said first group but not all of said plurality of descriptors are distributed from the first node directly to any of the plurality of nodes of said first group; said plurality of nodes of said first group exchanging their respective descriptors such that each of the plurality of nodes of said first group obtains all of said plurality of descriptors; said plurality of nodes of the first group communicating said plurality of descriptors to a plurality of nodes of a second group, of the plurality of groups, comprising a different plurality of recipient nodes; determining the number of descriptors of said file; and determining the number of said plurality of nodes to include in said first group as corresponding to the number of descriptors of said file.