System and method for receiving packet data multicast in sequential looping fashion

摘要

A system and method are described for receiving content in data packets transmitted in repeating loops of the packets arranged in a given sequence. A client subscribes to receive the content from a server. The header of each packet identifies the total number of packets in the sequence, the packet number for the current packet, and the size of the packet. The client begins receiving the packets at any point in the transmission sequence and then uses this header information to set up an index for tracking the receipt of the entire sequence. The index is used in particular to identify any packets that are missing and have not been received. The client determines whether it is better to wait for a missing packet to reappear in the sequence or to specifically request the missing packet from the server.