Selective tunneling of streaming data
First Claim
1. A method of transporting a data stream from a server to a client running on a network segment in a computer network having a plurality of segments, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) determining whether the network segment is available for transport of the data stream using a first protocol;
(b) if the network segment is not available for transport of the data stream using the first protocol, converting the data stream to a second protocol;
(c) re-transmitting the data stream to the client using the second protocol; and
(d) receiving the data stream at the client.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for “selective” tunneling of streaming data from a server to a client in a computer network having one or more network segments. The server has a tunneler utility, and the client has a receiver utility. The receiver utility first attempts to detect if a given data stream is available via IP multicast on the network segment supporting the client. If not, then the receiver utility issues a request for a IP unicast stream. This request is serviced by the tunneler utility. The tunneler utility re-broadcasts the IP multicast feed using IP unicast to send the data stream directly to the requesting user and/or to a repeater utility. The receiver utility then receives and processes the data stream for output to the end user. Alternatively, the receiver application, or a network administrator, launches the repeater utility, which then converts the IP unicast stream back to IP multicast format for re-broadcast over the network segment to other clients.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. A method of transporting a data stream from a server to a client running on a network segment in a computer network having a plurality of segments, the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining whether the network segment is available for transport of the data stream using a first protocol;
(b) if the network segment is not available for transport of the data stream using the first protocol, converting the data stream to a second protocol;
(c) re-transmitting the data stream to the client using the second protocol; and
(d) receiving the data stream at the client. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
issuing an IP unicast request from the client to the server; and
having the server transmit the data stream via the second protocol.
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4. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the server is a video server and the data stream is a video.
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5. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the computer network is an intranet.
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6. The method as described in claim 1 where the data stream is not available for transport to the network segment via the first protocol because the network segment does not support transmissions via the first protocol.
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7. A method of streaming video data from a video server to a client running on a segment of an intranet, comprising the steps of:
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(a) determining whether the video data can be transported to the segment via IP multicast;
(b) if the video data can not be transported to the segment via IP multicast, having the client issue a request to the server to transport the video data via IP unicast;
(c) having the server transport the video data to the segment via IP unicast;
(d) selectively re-broadcasting the video data over the segment via IP multicast; and
(e) receiving and outputting the video data at the client. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A computer program product for use to facilitate transport of a data stream from a server to a client running on a network segment in a computer network having a plurality of segments, comprising:
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(a) code for determining whether the network segment is available for transport of the data stream using a first protocol;
(b) code for converting the data stream to a second protocol if the network segment is not available for transport of the data stream using the first protocol;
(c) code for re-transmitting the data stream to the client using the second protocol; and
(d) code for receiving the data stream at the client.
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11. A computer program product for use to facilitate streaming of video data from a video server to a client running on a segment of an intranet, comprising:
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(a) code for determining whether the video data can be transported to the segment via IP multicast;
(b) code for issuing a request to the server from the client to transport the video data via IP unicast if the video data cannot be transported to the segment via IP multicast;
(c) code for transporting the video data from the server to the segment via IP unicast;
(d) code for selectively re-broadcasting the video data over the segment via IP multicast; and
(e) code for receiving and outputting the video data at the client.
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Specification