1. A method of processing a digital signal identified by a unique identifier in a distributed communication network composed of several communication apparatuses, comprising the steps of: storing at least a part of the data constituting the identified digital signal in a local storage located in one of the apparatus; and managing two descriptors related to the identifier within the local storage, including a first descriptor representative of the identified digital signal and a second descriptor which is dependent on the first descriptor and representative of the part of the data stored in the local storage.