System and method for facilitating expedited delivery of media content

1. A method for facilitating expedited delivery and continuous presentation of media content to a node over a network, the method comprising:

a computing device communicating requests to a plurality of peer nodes within the network for the media content;

buffering the data received from the peer nodes after communicating the requests to the peer nodes;

communicating a request to a media server to present media content at the same time as when the requests are communicated to the peer nodes;

buffering the data received via a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) from the media server after communicating the request to the media server;

presenting a separate media clip while the data received from the media server is being buffered;

presenting the media content based on the UDP data received from the media server after presenting the separate media clip, while the data received from the peer nodes is being buffered, wherein the UDP data playback time is configurable depending on system requirements and network conditions; and

discontinuing receipt of data from the media server and presenting the media content based on data received from at least one peer node without significant interruption in presentation;

wherein discontinuing receipt of data from the media server involves terminating data transfer from the media server after the aggregate data rate of the data received from the peer nodes reaches a pre-determined level.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving the separate media clip from a node within the network.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the separate media clip is stored locally.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein discontinuing receipt of data from the media server involves terminating data transfer from the media server after a given period of time has elapsed since the request is communicated to the media server.

5. A method for reducing channel-switching time for audio or video content delivered via a peer-to-peer overlay network, the method comprising:

a computing device transmitting requests to a media server and a plurality of peer nodes for the audio or video content;

receiving and buffering data for the audio or video content from the media server via a UDP port and from one or more peer nodes, whereby initial data from the media server may be delivered at a higher data rate and hence facilitates a reduced buffering time;

presenting a separate media clip while waiting for sufficient UDP data to be buffered;

while receiving and buffering data from the peer nodes, presenting the audio or video content based on the buffered data received via the UDP port, thereby allowing a shorter channel-switching time, wherein the UDP data playback time is configurable depending on system requirements and network conditions;

terminating data transfer from the media server; and

continuing presenting the audio or video content based on the buffered data.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein prior to transmitting requests to the peer nodes, the method further comprises obtaining from a directory server a list of peer nodes which contain data for the audio or video content.

7. A system for facilitating expedited delivery of media content to a node over a network, the system comprising:

a P2P communication mechanism configured to communicate requests to a plurality of peer nodes within the network for the media content;

a buffer configured to buffer the data received from the peer nodes after the communication mechanism communicates the requests to the peer nodes;

a UDP communication mechanism configured to communicate a request to a media server to present media content at the same time as the requests are communicated to the peer nodes;

the buffer further configured to buffer the data that the second communication mechanism receives via a UDP port from the media server after the UDP communication mechanism communicates the request to the media server;

a media-content presentation mechanism configured to:

present a separate media clip while the data received from the media server is being buffered;

present the media content based on the UDP data received from the media server, while the data received from the peer nodes is buffered,

after presenting the separate media clip, wherein the UDP data playback time is configurable depending on system requirements and network conditions; and

discontinue receipt of data from the media server and present the media content based on data received from at least one peer node without significant interruption in presentation;

wherein while discontinuing receipt of data from the media server, the UDP communication mechanism is configured to terminate data transfer from the media server after the aggregate data rate of the data received from the peer nodes reaches a pre-determined level.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the separate media clip is received from a node within the network.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the separate media clip is stored locally.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein while discontinuing receipt of data from the media server, the second communication mechanism is configured to terminate data transfer from the media server after a given period of time has elapsed since the request is communicated to the media server.