Method and system for streaming multimedia transmissions

1. A method for a customer-premises equipment (CPE) gateway, the method comprising:

receiving, by the CPE gateway, a first internet group management protocol (IGMP) compliant command; wherein the CPE gateway differs from a multimedia end unit and is coupled to the multimedia end unit; wherein the first IGMP compliant command is aimed to a server that is capable of executing the first IGMP compliant command;

generating by the CPE gateway, in response to the first IGMP compliant command, a unicast command that instructs a multimedia server to generate a unicast media stream; wherein the generating comprises concealing the first IGMP compliant command from at least one IGMP compliant entity that follows the CPE gateway; wherein the multimedia server differs from the server that is capable of executing the first IGMP compliant command;

transmitting, by the CPE gateway, the unicast command to the at least one IGMP compliant entity; wherein the unicast command passes through the at least one IGMP compliant entity and reaches the multimedia server;

receiving, by the CPE gateway, from the multimedia server a dedicated media stream that was generated by the multimedia server, wherein at least a portion of the content of the dedicated media stream is selected to match user identification information; and

transmitting, by the CPE gateway, to the multimedia end unit a customized dedicated media stream that is responsive to the dedicated media stream; wherein the customized dedicated media stream is customized by the CPE gateway in response to multicast expected parameters expected by the multimedia end unit.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising preventing a transmission of the first IGMP compliant command to the server that is capable of executing the first IGMP compliant command.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the CPE gateway, the unicast media stream; and

transmitting, by the CPE gateway, to the multimedia end-unit a customized media stream that is responsive to the unicast media stream;

wherein the customized media stream is customized by the CPE gateway in response to multicast expected parameters expected by the multimedia end unit.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating, by the CPE gateway, a second IGMP compliant command that instructs the server that is capable of executing the second IGMP compliant command to transmit a multicast media stream to the multimedia end unit.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising modifying, by the CPE gateway, a sequence numbering of at least one packet of a media stream in response to a sequence numbering expectation of the multimedia end unit.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the multimedia end unit is a set top box.

7. The method according to claim 1 , comprising receiving the first IGMP compliant command from the multimedia server.

8. A customer-premises equipment (CPE) gateway, comprising:

a first interface for receiving a first internet group management protocol (IGMP) compliant command; wherein the CPE gateway differs from a multimedia end unit and is coupled to the multimedia end unit; wherein the first IGMP compliant command is aimed to a server that is capable of executing the first IGMP compliant command;

a processor for generating, in response to the first IGMP compliant command, a unicast command that instructs a multimedia server to generate a unicast media stream; and for concealing the first IGMP compliant command from at least one IGMP compliant entity that follows the CPE gateway; wherein the multimedia server differs from the server that is capable of executing the first IGMP compliant command;

a second interface for transmitting the unicast command to the at least one IGMP compliant entity; wherein the unicast command passes through the at least one IGMP compliant entity and reaches the multimedia server;

wherein the second interface is further for receiving from the multimedia server a dedicated unicast media stream that is generated by the multimedia server in response to user identification information;

wherein the first interface is further for transmitting to the multimedia end unit a customized dedicated media stream that is responsive to the dedicated unicast media stream, and

wherein the customized dedicated media stream is customized by the CPE gateway in response to multicast expected parameters expected by the multimedia end unit.

9. The CPE gateway of claim 8 , further adapted to prevent the first IGMP compliant command from being transmitted to the server that is capable of executing the first IGMP compliant command.

10. The CPE gateway of claim 8 , wherein the second interface is further for receiving the unicast media stream; and wherein the first interface is further for transmitting to the multimedia end unit a customized media stream that is responsive to the unicast media stream; wherein the customized media stream is customized by the CPE gateway in response to multicast expected parameters expected by the multimedia end unit.

11. The CPE gateway of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further for generating a second IGMP compliant command that instructs the server that is capable of executing the second IGMP compliant command to transmit a multicast media stream to a multimedia end unit that is coupled to the CPE gateway.

12. The CPE gateway of claim 8 , further adapted to modify a sequence numbering of at least one packet of a media stream in response to a sequence numbering expectation of the multimedia end unit.

13. The CPE gateway according to claim 8 , wherein the multimedia end unit is a set top box.

14. The CPE gateway according to claim 8 , wherein the first interface is arranged to receive the first IGMP compliant command from the multimedia server.