Session Control for Media Stream Transmission

A method for controlling the transmission of a media stream comprising a plurality of consecutive stream elements, the method comprising:

• obtaining a media description of the media stream, the media description indicating an initial element of the stream elements;
• sending a request for the initial stream element;
• initiating a session control procedure for a session;
• associating, after the sending the request for the initial stream element, the media stream with the session in the session control procedure;
• and
• controlling the transmission of a subsequent element of the stream elements in accordance with a control rule of the session.

A method in a media client for controlling the transmission of a media stream comprising a plurality of consecutive stream elements, the method comprising:

• obtaining a media description of the media stream, the media description indicating an initial element of the stream elements;
• sending a request for the initial stream element;
• initiating a session control procedure for the transmission of the media stream;
• wherein the sending the request for the initial stream element is performed before receiving a result of the session control procedure.

A media client comprising:

• a controller coupled to a sender and a receiver;
• wherein the controller is configured to control the transmission of a media stream to the receiver, the media stream comprising a plurality of consecutive stream elements;
• wherein the controller is configured to obtain a media description of the media stream, the media description indicating an initial element of the stream elements;
• wherein the controller is configured to:
• initiate sending of a request for the initial stream element by the sender
• initiate a session control procedure for the transmission of the media stream;
• wherein the sender is configured to send the request for the initial stream element before the receiver receives a result of the session control procedure.

A media server for controlling the transmission of a media stream comprising a plurality of consecutive stream elements in response to requests for the stream elements from a client, the media server comprising:

• a controller;
• a sender configured to send the stream elements;
• a receiver configured to:
• receive a request for an initial element of the stream elements, the request indicating the initial element;
• receive a result of a session control procedure for the transmission of the media stream;
• receive a further request for a subsequent element of the stream elements;
• receive the request for the initial stream element before receiving the result of the session control procedure;
• wherein the controller is coupled to the sender and to the receiver and configured to control the sending of the subsequent element based on the result of the session control procedure.

A method in a media server controlling the transmission of a media stream comprising a plurality of consecutive stream elements in response to requests for the stream elements from a client, the method comprising:

• receiving a request for an initial element of the stream elements, the request indicating the initial element;
• sending the indicated initial stream element;
• receiving a result of a session control procedure for the transmission of the media stream, wherein the receiving the request for the initial stream element is performed before receiving the result of the session control procedure;
• receiving a further request for a subsequent element of the stream elements;
• and
• controlling the sending of the subsequent element based on the result of the session control procedure.

A control entity for a session control procedure with a media client for the transmission of a media stream comprising a plurality of consecutive stream elements from a media server, the control entity comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive signaling of a session control procedure for the transmission of the media stream;
• a controller coupled to the receiver and to a sender, the controller configured to:
• terminate the signalling;
• associate the media stream with the session in the session control procedure;
• cause the sender to send an instruction initiating control of the transmission of a subsequent element of the stream elements in accordance with a control rule of the session.

A method in a control entity for performing a session control procedure with a media client for the transmission of a media stream comprising a plurality of consecutive stream elements from a media server, the method comprising:

• receiving signaling of a session control procedure for the transmission of the media stream;
• terminating the signaling and associating the media stream with the session in the session control procedure;
• and
• sending an instruction initiating control of the transmission of a subsequent element of the stream elements in accordance with a control rule of the session.

A media proxy for forwarding a media description from a server to a client, the media proxy comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive the media description from the server, the media description comprising a plurality of representation descriptions, each representation description indicating a different representation of the media stream;
• a processor configured to modify the media description by removing or modifying at least one of the representation descriptions and a media source of the at least one representation description from the media description;
• and
• a sender configured to send the modified media description towards the client.

A method in a media proxy for forwarding a media description from a server to a client, the method comprising:

• receiving, from the server, the media description comprising a plurality of representation descriptions, each representation description indicating a different representation of the media stream;
• modifying the media description by removing or modifying at least one of the representation descriptions and a media source of the at least one representation description from the media description;
• and
• sending the modified media description towards the client.