Fair Channel Allocation for Multiple Clients

1 . A method for communicating media streams from a transmitting device to a first client device and a second client device over a wireless channel, comprising:

generating first encoded media packets for transmission to the first client device during a transmission frame interval;

generating second encoded media packets for transmission to the second client device during the transmission frame interval;

allocating a first transmission window and a second transmission window in the transmission frame interval;

transmitting the first encoded media packets during the first transmission window; and

reallocating an unused portion of the first transmission window for transmission of the second encoded media packets.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of reallocating an unused portion of the first transmission window utilizes transmission status information associated with first encoded media packets to identify the unused portion, the transmission status information provided by the transmitting device.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of reallocating an unused portion of the first transmission window comprises accelerating the start time of the second transmission window.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

reversing the order in which the first encoded media packets and the second encoded media packets are generated for transmission in a subsequent transmission frame interval.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first and second encoded media packets represent rendered video data.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the client devices are game controllers.

7 . A method for transmitting media streams to a first client device and a second client device over a wireless channel, comprising:

generating first encoded media packets for transmission to the first client device during a transmission frame interval;

generating second encoded media packets for transmission to the second client device during the transmission frame interval;

allocating a first transmission window and a second transmission window in the transmission frame interval;

transmitting the first encoded media packets during the first transmission window;

transmitting the second encoded media packets during the second transmission window;

identifying an unused portion of the second transmission window; and

transmitting select first encoded media packet(s) during the unused portion of the second transmission window.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein

the step of identifying the unused portion of the second transmission window utilizes transmission status information associated with the second encoded media packets, and wherein

the select first encoded media packet(s) comprise first encoded media packets which are not successfully transmitted during the first transmission window.

9 . The method of claim 8 , further comprising:

buffering the select first encoded media packet(s) until the end of the second transmission window or receipt of associated transmission/retransmission completion information.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the step of reallocating an unused portion of the first transmission window comprises extending the expiry time of the select first encoded media packet(s).

11 . The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

reversing the order in which the first encoded media packets and the second encoded media packets are generated for transmission in a subsequent transmission frame interval.

12 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the first and second encoded media packets represent rendered video data.

13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the client devices are game controllers.

14 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the step of generating the first and second media packets comprises identifying the first and last media packet of each for a given transmission frame interval.

15 . An apparatus, comprising:

a transceiver for supporting wireless media transmissions to at least a first client device and a second client device;

an encoder(s) for encoding first and second media packets for transmission by the transceiver to the first and second client devices, respectively, during a transmission frame interval; and

a processor for adaptively allocating the transmission frame interval between the first and second client devices, adaptive allocation comprising:

establishing first and second transmission windows in the transmission frame interval for the first and second media packets, respectively,

identifying an unused portion of one of the transmission windows, and

reallocating the unused portion for use in transmission of media packets associated with the other transmission window.

16 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein identification of an unused portion of one of the transmission windows employs transmission status information associated with the first or second media packets.

17 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the processor is further operable to reverse the order of the transmission windows in a subsequent transmission frame interval if the unused portion is a portion of the second transmission window.

18 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein reallocating an unused portion of one of the transmission windows comprises altering the expiry time of the media packets associated with the other transmission window.

19 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the first and second media packets represent rendered video streams.

20 . The apparatus of claim 19 , the apparatus comprising a gaming console.