Systems and methods for achieving optimal network bitrate

1. A method of improving an encoding rate of a media stream in transmission of packets from a server to a media player wherein the media stream comprises a plurality of packets, the method comprising:

establishing a data connection between the server and the media player;

sending a first packet of the media stream from the server to the media player at a first bit rate to determine a time required to receive an acknowledge (ACK) signal in response to the sent first packet received at the server and, to know a number of bytes that is received by the media player which is determined by a ACK sequence number and a length of time between when the first packet is sent and received wherein the ACK signal comprises a first acknowledgment signal from the media player responsive to receipt of the first packet;

computing an estimated optimal bitrate for the data connection by dividing a known number of bytes comprising a packet size by the length of time between the sent and received first packet for adjusting a second bit rate; and

sending a second packet of the media stream from the server to the media player at the adjusted computed second bit rate achieving the improved encoding rate in the transmission of the packets to the server.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data connection comprises a TCP/IP connection.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the ACK signal is a TCP/IP ACK response.

4. The method of claim 3 , further including setting the second bit rate substantially equal to the ratio of the length of the first packet and the time required to receive the ACK signal.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the length of the first packet is determined from a sequence number contained within the TCP/IP ACK response.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the server comprises an encoder system.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the server comprises a placeshifting encoder system.

8. A media encoder system comprising:

a processor;

a memory component;

computer-readable software instructions stored within the memory component and configured to cause the processor to:

establish a data connection between a media player and a server;

send a first packet of a media stream from to the media player over a network at a first bit rate to determine a time required to receive an acknowledgment signal in response to the sent first packet received at the server and, to know a number of bytes that is received by the media player which is determined by an acknowledge sequence number and a length of time between when the first packet is sent and received;

receive, from the media player, the acknowledgment signal comprising a first acknowledgment signal responsive to receipt of the first packet;

compute an estimated optimal bitrate for the data connection by dividing a known number of bytes comprising a packet size by the length of time between the sent and received first packet to determine a second bit rate; and

send a second packet of the media stream to the media player at the adjusted_second bit rate which has been determined to achieve an improved encoding rate of packet transmission to the server.

9. The media encoder system of claim 8 , wherein the data connection comprises a TCP/IP connection.

10. The media encoder system of claim 9 , wherein the acknowledgment signal is a TCP/IP acknowledgment response.

11. The media encoder system of claim 10 , wherein the software instructions cause the processor to determine the length of the first packet received by the client.

12. The media encoder system of claim 11 , wherein the second bit rate is set substantially equal to the ratio of the length of the first packet and the time required to receive the acknowledgment signal.

13. The media encoder system of claim 11 , wherein the length of the first packet is determined from a sequence number contained within the TCP/IP acknowledgment response.

14. A media system comprising:

a media player;

a media encoder system communicatively coupled to the media player via a data connection established over a network, wherein the media encoder system is configured to send a first packet of a media stream to the media player at a first bit rate to determine a time required to receive a first acknowledgment signal in response to the sent first packet received at the server and, to know a number of bytes that is received by the media player which is determined by an acknowledge sequence number and a length of time between when the first packet is sent and received, wherein the media encoder system is configured to:

receive, from the media player, the first acknowledgment signal responsive to receipt of the first packet;

compute an estimated optimal bitrate for the data connection by dividing a known number of bytes comprising a packet size by the length of time between the sent and received first packet to determine a second bit rate, if not then based on a buffer based determination; and

send a second packet of the media stream to the media player at the adjusted by computation of the second bit rate, wherein the second bit rate is different than the first bit rate in order to achieve an improved encoding rate in packet transmission to the server.

15. The media system of claim 14 , wherein the data connection comprises a TCP/IP connection.

16. The media system of claim 15 , wherein the first acknowledgment signal is a TCP/IP acknowledgment response.

17. The media system of claim 16 , wherein the media encoder system determines the length of the first packet received by the media player.

18. The media system of claim 17 , wherein the second bit rate is set substantially equal to the ratio of the length of the first packet and the time required to receive the first acknowledgment signal.

19. The media system of claim 17 , wherein the length of the first packet is determined from a sequence number contained within the TCP/IP acknowledgment response.