Method and Apparatus for Distributing Multimedia to Remote Clients

A system for distributing media data, the system comprising:

• at least one device configured to capture a stream of multimedia data, said stream comprising a video signal;
• a server configured to receive said stream of multimedia data from said at least one device;
• and
• a client computer configured to communicate a request for multimedia data to said server over a network, wherein said request comprises a client specific parameter and a selection of a region of said video signal to view on said client computer, and
• wherein said server is further configured to:
• encode said stream of multimedia data in response to said client specific parameter and based on said selection;
• and
• stream said encoded stream to said client computer according to said client specific parameter.

A method, implemented in hardware, of distributing media data to a client computer via a network from a server computer, the method comprising:

• receiving a data request at a server computer from a client computer via a network;
• receiving a client specific parameter from said client computer;
• capturing a stream of multimedia data using at least one device configured to capture said stream of multimedia data;
• encoding said stream of multimedia data in response to said client specific parameter;
• streaming said encoded stream to said client computer from said server computer via the network according to said client specific parameter;
• launching a delay monitoring module on said client computer;
• detecting a change in received stream rate at said client computer and;
• communicating a request to the server computer requesting an updated client specific parameter comprising a multimedia data stream rate based on the detected change.