Multimedia client and server

摘要

A server provides a channel for previewing multimedia and a plurality of full screen multimedia channels. A client displays plural preview screens representing available multimedia channels from the server. Selection of a particular one of the plural preview screens at the client signals the server of the desired channel. The server then initiates streaming of the desired channel to the client. The server tracks the address of the user, the name of the stream and when the clip was started. After the client is finished viewing the stream another TCP connection is made to the server to unsubscribe. The server can therefore keep track of who has viewed which streams, for how long and at what time of the day. This method of tracking could also be used to track preview viewing.