Patent ID: 7643512

Claim:
A communication system, comprising: a first communication unit, which is arranged to communicate with a remote communication system over a first communication link having a first, variable data rate; and a second communication unit, which is arranged to exchange data with the remote communication system by communicating with the first communication unit over a second communication link having a second data rate, wherein the first and second communication units are arranged to modify the second data rate responsively to variations in the first data rate, so as to match the second data rate to the first data rate, wherein the first communication link uses Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM) in order to vary the first data rate, and wherein the first and second communication units are arranged to exchange with one another indications of ACM settings to be used by the first communication link, wherein the second communication unit is arranged to format the data in a first sequence of data frames, to encapsulate the first sequence of data frames in a second sequence of cable frames and to transmit the second sequence of cable frames over the second communication link, wherein the first communication unit is arranged to de-capsulate the second sequence of cable frames received over the second communication link so as to extract the first sequence of data frames, and to transmit the first sequence of data frames over the first communication link, wherein the first and second communication units comprise respective first and second controllers, which are arranged to exchange management data with one another by inserting the management data into the cable frames, and wherein the management data comprises the indications of the ACM settings to be used by the first communication link.