Bandwidth sharing in a distributed wireless client application using inverse multiplexing termination
A system and method for bandwidth sharing in a distributed wireless client application using inverse multiplexing termination. The system includes: a group of collocated client playback devices having wide area network (WAN) and local area network (LAN) connectivity, and a centralized inverse multiplexing (IMUX) server which optimizes shared bandwidth of both the WAN via inverse multiplexing and the LAN using either broadcast or multicast of all virtual multiplexing paths to all other client playback devices of the group of collocated client playback devices. Other embodiments are disclosed.
1. A server comprising:
a controller configured to:
establish a unicast connection with each of a plurality of client devices having a wide area network (WAN) and a local area network (LAN) connectivity;
receive streaming media content from a content server;
initiate an inverse multiplexed session with each of the plurality of client devices via their respective unicast connections; and
stream the media content via the inverse multiplex session over a multi-transport path terminating at each of the client devices to enable each of the client devices to re-transmit the content of its unicast connection over the LAN such that each of the client devices receives the content of the unicast connections of all of the other client devices.
2. The server of claim 1 wherein the LAN comprises a wireless localized ad hoc LAN.
3. The server of claim 1 wherein the streamed media content comprises a scalable video coded stream.
4. The server of claim 3 wherein playback of the scalable video coded stream is enabled based on at least one of a plurality of bandwidths received using inverse multiplexing and playback capabilities of each of the client devices.
5. The server of claim 4 wherein the playback capabilities of each of the client devices comprise one or more of a screen size, central processing unit (CPU) power, and battery usage.
6. The server of claim 3 wherein the streamed media content includes digital rights management (DRM) that allows only authorized client devices access to the scalable video coded stream.
7. The server of claim 1 wherein a bandwidth of the LAN is greater than a sum of WAN unicast bandwidths.
8. The server of claim 1 wherein the streamed media content comprises a single high-bandwidth H.264 scalable video format stream.
9. The server of claim 8 wherein additional H.264 layers may be added or deleted based on additional client devices joining or leaving the inverse multiplexed session.
10. The server of claim 1 wherein re-transmitting over the LAN uses a Layer-Media 2 Access Control (MAC) broadcast to the other client devices of the plurality of client devices.
11. The server of claim 1 wherein re-transmitting over the LAN uses a Layer-3 route multicast protocol to the other client devices of the plurality of client devices.
12. A wireless client device comprising:
a controller configured to:
receive, from a wireless wide area network (WAN), content from one or more logical channels of a multiple channel inverse multiplexed session;
re-transmit the received content over a local area network (LAN) or a personal area network (PAN) to other wireless client devices;
receive, from the LAN or the PAN, content from one or more logical channels associated with the other wireless client devices in the inverse multiplexed session;
terminate the inverse multiplexed session per defined inverse multiplexed protocol; and
render the content on the wireless device.
13. The wireless client device of claim 12 wherein the LAN comprises a wireless localized ad hoc LAN.
14. The wireless client device of claim 12 wherein the received content comprises a scalable video coded stream.
15. The wireless client device of claim 14 wherein playback of the scalable video coded stream is enabled based on at least one of a plurality of bandwidths received using inverse multiplexing and playback capabilities of each of the other client devices.
16. The wireless client device of claim 15 wherein the playback capabilities of each of the other wireless client devices comprise one or more of a screen size, central processing unit (CPU) power, and battery usage.
17. The wireless client device of claim 14 wherein the received content includes digital rights management (DRM) that allows only authorized client devices access to the scalable video coded stream.
18. The wireless client device of claim 12 wherein a bandwidth of the LAN is greater than a sum of WAN unicast bandwidths.
19. The wireless client device of claim 12 wherein the received content comprises a single high-bandwidth H.264 scalable video format stream.
20. The wireless client device of claim 19 wherein additional H.264 layers may be added or deleted based on additional client devices joining or leaving the inverse multiplexed session.
21. The wireless client device of claim 12 wherein re-transmitting over the LAN uses a Layer-2 Media Access Control (MAC) broadcast to the other client devices.
22. The wireless client device of claim 12 wherein re-transmitting over the LAN uses a Layer-3 route multicast protocol to the other client devices.
23. A method comprising:
establishing a unicast connection with each of a plurality of client devices having a wide area network (WAN) and a local area network (LAN) connectivity;
receiving streaming media content from a content server;
initiating an inverse multiplexed session with each of the plurality of client devices via their respective unicast connections; and
streaming the media content via the inverse multiplexed session over a multi-transport path terminating at each of the client devices to enable each of the client devices to re-transmit the content of its unicast connection over the LAN such that each of the client devices receives the content of the unicast connections of all of the other client devices.
24. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions for directing a processor to perform a method comprising:
establishing a unicast connection with each of a plurality of client devices having a wide area network (WAN) and a local area network (LAN) connectivity;
receiving streaming media content from a content server;
initiating an inverse multiplexed session with each of the plurality of client devices via their respective unicast connections; and
streaming the media content via the inverse multiplex session over a multi-transport path terminating at each of the client devices to enable each of the client devices to re-transmit the content of its unicast connection over the LAN such that each of the client devices receives the content of the unicast connections of all of the other client devices.