System for management of cacheable streaming content in a packet based communication network with mobile hosts

A method of managing cacheable streaming content, the method comprising:

• a) supplying a content stream with a caching proxy in response to a request of a mobile node located in a first subnet;
• b) caching the content stream supplied by the caching proxy;
• c) handing off the request to another caching proxy when the mobile node relocates to a second subnet;
• d) discontinuing caching of the content stream with the caching proxy;
• and
• e) quantizing the fragment of the content stream cached in the caching proxy to achieve a uniform size.

A method of managing cacheable streaming content, the method comprising:

• a) subscribing a caching proxy to a mobility status of a mobile node as a function of a request for a content stream by the mobile node and the logical proximity of the caching proxy to the location of the mobile node;
• b) notifying the caching proxy that the mobile node has moved to a new location;
• c) identifying a target caching proxy in close logical proximity to the new location;
• d) initiating a cache handoff of the request for the content stream from the caching proxy to the target caching proxy;
• and
• e) subscribing the target caching proxy to the mobility status of the mobile node.