System and Method for Media Adaptation

A method for providing media to an electronic device, the method comprising:

• receiving a request for a media with a set of characteristics;
• determining if the media with the set of characteristics resides in a media storage;
• if the media with the set of characteristics resides in the media storage, retrieving the media with the set of characteristics from the media storage;
• if the media with the set of characteristics does not reside in the media storage,
• transcoding an alternate media with an alternate set of characteristics to produce a transcoded media with the set of characteristics, or
• retrieving the media with the set of characteristics from a media server;
• and
• providing the media with the set of characteristics from the media storage, the media with the set of characteristics from the media server, or the transcoded media with the set of characteristics to the electronic device.

An electronic device comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive incoming information from a data input port;
• a transmitter configured to transmit outgoing information to a data output port;
• a controller coupled to the transmitter and to the receiver, the controller configured to combine fixed bit-rate media with on demand transcoding of media fragments to produce a media stream with support for a wide range of properties;
• and
• a memory coupled to the controller, to the receiver, and to the transmitter, the memory configured to store media fragments.