US Patent 9047236 Client side stream switching

Client side stream switching enables substantially uninterrupted transmission of a highest compatible bit rate of a stream of media to a client via a network connection. The client may include one or more buffers for receiving the stream of media. Attributes including the buffer activity and a bandwidth of the network connection may be monitored by a streaming module to determine an alternative bit rate of the stream of media. The stream of media may be transitioned from the first bit rate to the alternative bit rate without an interruption of the stream of media to provide the client with the highest compatible bit rate based on the monitored attributes.