QUALITY DRIVEN STREAMING METHOD AND APPARATUS

摘要

A method and apparatus for providing quality driven streaming content from a source (102) to a destination terminal (114) in a closed network (100) is disclosed. Every time a new stream is requested information regarding the required bandwidth is gathered. It is then determined if the network has the required bandwidth to transmit the new stream. When the network does not have the required bandwidth, the bandwidth of all streams presently being transmitted is reduced so as to enable the new stream to be sent to the destination terminal (114) when the network does not have the required bandwidth. The bandwidth reduction can be evenly distributed, proportionate based on a stored hierarchy of users, or be performed only on selected streams.