| 摘要 |
A method of distributing a stream of data, such as video data, from a stream provider to one or more requesting nodes, comprises receiving a stream of time-sequential data content data from a stream provider (100, Figure 1), and allocating data content from the stream of data to both a first sequence of time-sequential data objects 316 and a second sequence of time-sequential data objects 318, the first and second sequences being allocated substantially the same data content - e.g. alternating data portions making up a complete stream - from the data stream. Timings of data objects in the first and second sequences are such that time boundaries between data objects in the first and second sequences are offset; finally, the method makes data objects in the first and second sequences available for distribution to one or more requesting nodes. Intermediate cache nodes (116, Figure 1) may be provided. Also claimed is a method for requesting and decoding such respective shifted, staggered or offset data streams, with data requests containing unique identifiers identifying first and second data objects. |
