Method of providing replay on demand for streaming digital multimedia

An apparatus for providing replay on demand of a multimedia segment having digital multimedia data signals comprising:

• a decoder to receive and decode a base layer of a stream representing the multimedia segment and to receive and decode an enhancement layer of the stream, the enhancement layer corresponding to the base layer;
• and
• a graphical user interface, coupled to the decoder to display the decoded base layer of the stream as an original display of the multimedia segment at a first quality level, to receive a request for replay of the multimedia segment, and to display the decoded base layer and the decoded enhancement layer of the multimedia segment at a second quality level in response to the request.

An article comprising a machine readable medium having a plurality of machine readable instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by a processor, the instructions cause a multimedia segment received in a digital multimedia stream representing the multimedia segment on a limited bandwidth communications path to be replayed by storing at least a portion of a first layer of the digital multimedia stream in a memory, requesting transmission of a second layer from a server system, by receiving the second layer of the digital multimedia stream corresponding to the stored portion of the first layer over the limited bandwidth communications path, by reading the stored portion of the first layer from the memory, by decoding the stored portion of the first layer and the received second layer, and by displaying the decoded first and second layers to the user.

An article comprising a machine readable medium having a plurality of machine readable instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by a processor, the instructions cause replay of a multimedia segment obtained from a signal source by a server system, a first portion of the multimedia segment being transmitted as a first layer in a digital multimedia stream over a limited bandwidth communications path to a client system, by storing a second portion of the multimedia segment as at least one second layer in a memory in the server system, by receiving a request for replay service of the multimedia segment from the client system, by reading the at least one second layer from the memory, and by transmitting the at least one second layer in the digital multimedia stream to the client system.

An article comprising a machine readable medium having a plurality of machine readable instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by a processor, the instructions cause replay of a multimedia segment having digital multimedia data signals, the multimedia segment being transmitted as a stream, the stream being received by a client system from a server system on a limited bandwidth communications path, by receiving a base layer of the stream, by decoding the base layer and displaying the decoded base layer at a first quality level, by storing at least a portion of the base layer in a memory in the client system, by receiving a request for replay service for the multimedia segment from a user of the client system, by receiving at least one enhancement layer of the stream corresponding to the stored portion of the base layer, by reading the stored portion of the base layer from the cache;

• by decoding the stored portion of the base layer and the at least one enhancement layer, and by displaying the decoded base and enhancement layers at a second quality level.

An article comprising a machine readable medium having a plurality of machine readable instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by a processor, the instructions cause replay of a multimedia segment having digital multimedia data signals, the multimedia segment being transmitted as a stream by a server system to a client system on a limited bandwidth communications path, by transmitting a first portion of the multimedia segment as a base layer of the stream to the client system, by storing a second portion of the multimedia segment, the second portion corresponding to the first portion, as at least one enhancement layer in a memory in the server system, by receiving a request for replay service of the multimedia segment, by reading the second portion from the memory, and by transmitting the second portion as the at least one enhancement layer in the stream to the client system.