Patent ID: 8117328

Claim:
A method of streaming media content to at least one client, said method comprising: establishing a streaming media connection between an origin server and the at least one client, wherein the streaming media originates at the origin server; associating a session identifier corresponding to the current client-server session and a stream identifier corresponding to a particular stream being delivered with the established streaming media connection, wherein the session identifier is a value identifying a relationship between the origin server and the at least one client, and wherein the stream identifier is a value identifying a particular stream in the media content; streaming the media content from the origin server to the client; maintaining a state of the client within a state repository at the origin server, wherein the state of the client includes the session identifier and the stream identifier, wherein maintaining the state of the client within the state repository at the origin server comprises maintaining the state for a preset time period after the streaming media content is interrupted; receiving a reconnect request, at the origin server, when said streaming media content is interrupted, said reconnect request including the session identifier and the stream identifier; in response to receiving the reconnect request, retrieving, by the origin server, the maintained state based on the session identifier and the stream identifier in the received request; based upon the retrieved state, re-establishing, by the origin server, the streaming media connection with the client, wherein the streaming media connection is between the same origin server and the client, and wherein re-establishing comprises associating the maintained state with the client sending the reconnect request to the origin server; and continuing, based on the retrieved state, the streaming of the media content from the origin server to the client.