Patent · US Expired

Server/client architecture and method for multicasting on a computer network

US6279029A · kind A · utility

200Cited by
26References
22Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 12, 1993
Grant dateAug 21, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 12, 2013

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L9/40
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A server/client for a network-based multicast system has a media services manager and one or more media service providers. When functioning as a server, the media service providers receive data corresponding to a channel having one or more related data streams, where each media service provider receives data corresponding to a data stream of the channel. In the server, the media services manager receives the data from the media service providers and transmits the data to the network. When functioning as a client, the media services manager receives data from the network for a selected channel having one or more related data streams. In the client, the media service providers receive and play the data from the media services manager, where each media service provider receives and plays data corresponding to a data stream of the channel. In a preferred embodiment, a channel has logically related audio, video, and/or text data streams.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.