Method and apparatus for selecting an access method for delivery of media

1. A method comprising:

providing for reception of a media presentation description, wherein the media presentation description identifies a first set of one or more access methods for receiving media associated with the media presentation description, and wherein the media presentation description provides an access description element associated with each of the one or more access methods, wherein each access description element defines a set of attribute values that is unique to its associated access method;

identifying a second set of one or more access methods supported by an apparatus;

determining a third set of one or more access methods belonging to both the first set and the second set; and

selecting an access method from the third set based at least in part on the set of attribute values contained in the access description element associated with the access method, and a future context of the apparatus using predicted route and speed of the apparatus, an expected reception bitrate or expected reception quality of a particular access method at the future context;

wherein the selected access method comprises a unicast access method, a broadcast access method, or a multicast access method; and

wherein selecting the access method further includes:

selecting a first access method for receiving a first predefined portion of the media associated with the media presentation description; and

simultaneously selecting a second access method for receiving a second predefined portion of the media associated with the media presentation description, wherein the apparatus is capable of utilizing the first access method and the second access method simultaneously.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first predefined portion of the media comprises a first segment, sub-segment, or representation and the second predefined portion of the media comprises a second segment, sub-segment, or representation.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

selecting the first segment, sub-segment, or representation for reproduction during a first period of time; and

switching to the second segment, sub-segment, or representation for reproduction during a second period of time.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first predefined portion comprises a first component of the media and the second predefined portion comprises a second component of the media.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting an access method from the third set further comprises:

determining one or more access methods currently in use by the apparatus; and

selecting an access method from the third set, wherein the selected access method differs from the one or more access methods currently in use by the apparatus.

6. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory comprising computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to:

provide for reception of a media presentation description, wherein the media presentation description identifies a first set of one or more access methods for receiving media associated with the media presentation description, and wherein the media presentation description provides an access description element associated with each of the one or more access methods, wherein each access description element defines a set of attribute values that is unique to its associated access method;

identify a second set of one or more access methods supported by the apparatus;

determine a third set of one or more access methods belonging to both the first set and the second set; and

select an access method from the third set based at least in part on the set of attribute values contained in the access description element associated with the access method, and a future context of the apparatus using predicted route and speed of apparatus, an expected reception bitrate or expected reception quality of a particular access method at the future context;

wherein the selected access method comprises a unicast access method, a broadcast access method, or a multicast access method; and

wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further select the access method by causing the apparatus to:

select a first access method for receiving a first predefined portion of the media associated with the media presentation description; and

simultaneously select a second access method for receiving a second predefined portion of the media associated with the media presentation description, wherein the apparatus is capable of utilizing the first access method and the second access method simultaneously.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the first predefined portion of the media comprises a first segment, sub-segment, or representation and the second predefined portion of the media comprises a second segment, sub-segment, or representation.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

select the first segment, sub-segment, or representation for reproduction during a first period of time; and

switch to the second segment, sub-segment, or representation for reproduction during a second period of time.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the first predefined portion comprises a first component of the media and the second predefined portion comprises a second component of the media.

10. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein in order to select an access method from the third set, the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

determine one or more access methods currently in use by the apparatus; and

select an access method from the third set, wherein the selected access method differs from the one or more access methods currently in use by the apparatus.

11. An apparatus comprising:

means for providing for reception of a media presentation description, wherein the media presentation description identifies a first set of one or more access methods for receiving media associated with the media presentation description, and wherein the media presentation description provides an access description element associated with each of the one or more access methods, wherein each access description element defines a set of attribute values that is unique to its associated access method;

means for identifying a second set of one or more access methods supported by an apparatus;

means for determining a third set of one or more access methods belonging to both the first set and the second set; and

means for selecting an access method from the third set based at least in part on the set of attribute values contained in the access description element associated with the access method, and a future context of the apparatus using predicted route and speed of apparatus, an expected reception bitrate or an expected reception quality of a particular access method at the future context;

wherein the selected access method comprises a unicast access method, a broadcast access method, or a multicast access method; and

wherein the means for selecting the access method further includes:

means for selecting a first access method for receiving a first predefined portion of the media associated with the media presentation description; and

means for simultaneously selecting a second access method for receiving a second predefined portion of the media associated with the media presentation description, wherein the apparatus is capable of utilizing the first access method and the second access method simultaneously.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the first predefined portion of the media comprises a first segment, sub-segment, or representation and the second predefined portion of the media comprises a second segment, sub-segment, or representation.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 , further comprising:

means for selecting the first segment, sub-segment, or representation for reproduction during a first period of time; and

means for switching to the second segment, sub-segment, or representation for reproduction during a second period of time.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the first predefined portion comprises a first component of the media and the second predefined portion comprises a second component of the media.

15. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein means for selecting an access method from the third set further comprises:

means for determining one or more access methods currently in use by the apparatus; and

means for selecting an access method from the third set, wherein the selected access method differs from the one or more access methods currently in use by the apparatus.