Signaling and determining idle periods during real-time traffic communication

A device for receiving media data via a network, the device comprising:

• a memory configured to store media data;
• and
• a processing system implemented in circuitry, the processing system comprising reception circuitry configured to receive packets including media data and one or more processors implemented in circuitry, the processing system being configured to:
• receive, via the reception circuitry, data representing a lower bound on a time between a time of transmission of a previous packet and a time of transmission of a subsequent packet;
• after receiving the previous packet, disable the reception circuitry for an idle time period according to the data representing the lower bound on the time between the time of transmission of the previous packet and the time of transmission of the subsequent packet;
• after the idle time period, enable the reception circuitry;
• and
• after enabling the reception circuitry, receive, via the reception circuitry, the subsequent packet.

A method of sending data via a network, the method comprising:

• sending a previous packet of a packet flow to a client device;
• determining a lower bound on a time between a time of transmission of the previous packet and a time of transmission of a subsequent packet of the packet flow;
• sending data representing the lower bound on the time between the time of transmission of the previous packet and the time of transmission of the subsequent packet to the client device;
• and
• at or after a time corresponding to the lower bound on the time following the time of transmission of the previous packet, sending the subsequent packet to the client device.