Patent attributes
There is provided a mechanism for providing Adaptive Bit Rate adjustments of media streams like video for live Over the Top distribution without the need to monitor buffer fill levels, which is advantageous for live video distribution over IP networks. An embodiment of the invention is based on monitoring change in the received bitrate level at a client device, and providing a predicted future bandwidth characteristics of the network based on the change. By monitoring the received bitrate and its rate of change over time, a prediction of (near future) available bandwidth in the network is advantageously provided. A drastic drop of the received bitrate may for instance indicate that the available bandwidth will become too low to sustain a currently received media stream, and the system can accordingly initiate a decision to request a lower video quality.
