Techniques to dynamically configure target bitrate for streaming network connections

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

• receive encoded media content for streaming transmission over a network;
• divide the encoded media content into a sequence of network packets of a predefined initial packet size;
• transmit the sequence of network packets over the network at a predefined initial bitrate;
• receive information regarding observed performance of the network based on the transmission of the sequence of network packets;
• adjust the bitrate based on the received information;
• and
• adjust the size of the network packets based on the adjusted bitrate.

A system comprising:

• a processor circuit;
• a network interface configured to allow the streaming transmission of encoded media over a network;
• and
• software, for execution on the processor circuit, the software performing the functions of:
• receiving encoded media content for transmission over the network;
• dividing the encoded media content into a sequence of network packets of a predefined initial packet size;
• transmitting the sequence of network packets over the network at a predefined initial bitrate;
• receiving information regarding observed performance of the network based on the transmission of the sequence of network packets;
• adjusting the bitrate based on the received information;
• and
• adjusting the size of the network packets based on the adjusted bitrate.