Transmission communications management

Abstract

An interactive transmission system having a data management module that identifies at least one transmission characteristic of at least one transmitter module. The transmitter module transmits data over a transport medium. The data management module modifies its behavior based on the identified at least one transmission characteristic.

1 . A transmission system, comprising: 
 a data management module capable of managing data flow; and    a transmitter module coupled to a transport medium and to the data management module, the transmitter module storing configuration data indicative of whether the transmitter module is capable of assigning priorities to data the transmitter module receives, wherein the data management module modifies its data flow management based on the configuration data.    
   
   
       2 . The transmission system of  claim 1 , further comprising at least an additional transmitter module.  
   
   
       3 . The transmission system of  claim 2 , wherein each transmitter module is associated with a different transport medium.  
   
   
       4 . The transmission system of  claim 1 , wherein the transmission characteristic of the transmitter module varies over time.  
   
   
       5 . The transmission system of  claim 1 , wherein the configuration data indicates a data flow rate of the transmitter module.  
   
   
       6 . The transmission system of  claim 5 , wherein the data flow rate is adjusted to compensate for delays in the transmitter module.  
   
   
       7 . The transmission system of  claim 1 , wherein the data management module combines digital data with television data to transmit over the transport medium.  
   
   
       8 . The transmission system of  claim 1 , wherein the transport medium includes a medium selected from the group consisting of an airwave transmission, a cable transmission, a satellite transmission, a digital television transmission, and a computer network.  
   
   
       9 . A computer-readable medium storing a program executable by a computer in a transmission system including a transport medium, the program comprising instructions to cause the computer to: 
 determine whether a transmitter module is capable of performing bandwidth management; and    modify data flow management based on the determination.    
   
   
       10 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , the program further comprising instructions causing the computer to identify a transmission characteristic of at least another transport medium over which data is to be transmitted by at least another transmitter.  
   
   
       11 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 10 , wherein the transport media have different transmission characteristics.  
   
   
       12 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the program includes the transmitter module and a data management module.  
   
   
       13 . A method of managing data flow over a transport medium in an interactive transmission system, comprising: 
 determining at least one characteristic indicative of data management by a transmitter other than a rate at which the transmitter processes the data; and    modifying data flow management based on the identified said at least one characteristic.    
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 13 , further comprising determining said at least one characteristic on a continued basis.  
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein said at least one characteristic indicates at least one of the following: 
 whether internal buffers are used in the transmitter,    whether framing of the data is performed,    whether fragmentation of the data is performed, and    whether the transmitter is able to perform bandwidth management.