Server-side scheduling for media transmissions

A method comprising:

• monitoring, by a device comprising a processor, transport characteristics of a network communicatively coupled to the device to determine a first network throughput associated with a current location of the device, wherein data packets representing media content are transported by the network to the device according to an adaptive streaming protocol;
• predicting, by the device, a future location of the device, based on a current location of the device, a history of movement of the device, a trajectory of the device, or a combination thereof;
• predicting, by the device, a second network throughput in accordance with the predicted future location;
• and
• scheduling, by the device, a request to a server for transmission of data packets corresponding to a segment of media content over the network, in accordance with the second network throughput, wherein the scheduling further comprises rescheduling the request responsive to the second network throughput being greater than the first network throughput;
• and
• receiving, by the device, the data packets corresponding to the segment of media content from the server in fulfillment of the request,
• wherein the monitoring comprises monitoring a rate of arrival at the server of requests for transmission of the data packets.

A machine-readable storage medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations comprising:

• monitoring transport characteristics of a network communicatively coupled to the processor to determine a first network throughput associated with a current location of the processor, wherein data packets representing media content are transported from a server to the processor over the network according to an adaptive streaming protocol;
• predicting a future location of the processor;
• predicting a second network throughput in accordance with the predicted future location;
• scheduling a request to a server for transmission of data packets corresponding to a segment of media content over the network, in accordance with the second network throughput, wherein the scheduling further comprises rescheduling the request responsive to the second network throughput being greater than the first network throughput;
• receiving the data packets corresponding to the segment of media content from the server in fulfillment of the request;
• and
• responsive to the second network throughput being less than the first network throughput:
• requesting transmission of additional data packets from the server;
• and
• buffering the additional data packets to avoid a degradation in a viewing quality of media content in a future presentation.