Patent ID: 8190759

Claim:
A transmission apparatus including at least one processor for transmitting data in a predetermined protocol, said transmission apparatus comprising: first communication-protocol-processing means for carrying out necessary processing in accordance with a predetermined communication protocol on image and/or audio information as data to be transmitted by using hardware; second communication-protocol-processing means for carrying out necessary processing in accordance with the predetermined communication protocol on predetermined information other than said image and/or audio information as data to be transmitted by using software, the second communication-protocol processing means carrying out the necessary processing at a speed lower than that of the first communication-protocol processing means; transmission means for outputting and transmitting data being transmitted; and connection-switching means capable of selecting said first communication-protocol-processing means or said second communication-protocol-processing means as means to be connected to said transmission means, based on an amount of data received per unit time, so as to select transmitted data processed by said first communication-protocol-processing means, taking precedence of transmitted data processed by said second communication -protocol- processing means, wherein an amount of data per unit time processed by the first communication-protocol-processing means is required to exceed a predetermined value to sustain a time-series continuity, while an amount of data per unit time of the second communication-protocol-processing means has no such a requirement.