Patent ID: 7394812

Claim:
An apparatus for processing an informational signal, said apparatus comprising: data-receiving means for receiving transmission data having a first header, said first header including at least transmission destination information and information indicating processing of the information to be processed at the destination; decision means for deciding that the transmission data received by the data receiving means is destined for the apparatus itself for processing the informational signal, based on the transmission destination information included in the first header; signal-processing means for processing the informational signal into a processed information signal based on the processing information included in the first header when the decision means decides that the transmission data is destined for the apparatus itself; header-generating means for generating, based on the processing information included in the first header, a second header that includes at least second transmission destination information and second processing information of transmission destination relative to the processed informational signal; and data-transmitting means for transmitting transmission data comprised of the processed informational signal and the second header generated by the header-generating means.