Network offloading with reduced packet loss

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of transmitting a first segment of data via a data network from a transmitting unit having a first data transmission rate to a first destination having a first data reception rate. Where the first data transmission rate is larger than the first data reception rate, the method comprising: effectively reducing the first transmission rate from the transmitting unit to the first destination by switching between transmitting at least a part of the first segment as one or more data packets to the first destination in a direction only from the transmitting unit to the first destination, and transmitting at least a part of second segment as one or more data packets to one or more additional destinations in a direction only from the transmitting unit to the one or more additional destinations, the switching being repeated until said first segment and/or at least said second segment has been transmitted. In this way, the packet rate to a client is reduced while the total packet rate for the transmitting system is maintained whereby a decreased probability of packet loss and/or of router buffer exhaustion is achieved since data to relatively slower client will not be transmitted at full rate.