JP2005190454A - Device for providing memory card content and method of content security - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for providing a memory card content and a method of content security that protect copyright of a content provider. <P>SOLUTION: A device is disclosed for providing a memory card content and a method of content security. When a content usable on the device for providing a memory card content is provided through a memory card, the content provider's copyright of the content is protected by attaching to the memory card a security code for protecting copyright of the content stored in the memory card, and making only the content authenticated by an authenticated portable multimedia learning device usable. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to a memory card content providing apparatus.
To explain in detail, it is possible to protect the copyright on the content by attaching a security code to the authenticated memory card and determining whether the content stored on the memory card can be used by using the attached security code. The present invention relates to a memory card content providing apparatus and a content security method.

A typical memory card content providing apparatus includes an internal data memory that stores a key input function, a screen output function, and a content driving program. Depending on the user's choice and the author's intention to write, the content and learning process may take various forms, and the user's active learning is induced by an interactive program.
An example of such a memory card content providing apparatus is a portable multimedia learning machine or a portable electronic dictionary.
In addition, there exists a thing as described in the following patent documents as such a technique.

At this time, the memory card content providing device uses a memory card that stores digital data, such as a memory stick, compact flash (registered trademark), smart media card, or multimedia card, to limit the capacity of the internal data memory. Beyond this, users are provided with more diverse learning content.
However, in the use of the memory card storing the specific content in this way in the memory card content providing device, no means for protecting the copyright of the content stored in the memory card has yet been prepared. There is a problem that it is not easy to protect copyright.

Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-81120 Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-07704 Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-70450

  The present invention is to solve the above-described problems, and provides a security code to the memory card content according to the present invention, and the memory card content providing device is stored in the memory card using the provided security code. It is an object of the present invention to provide a memory card content providing apparatus and a content security method for protecting the copyright of a content provider by determining whether the content can be used.

  In order to achieve the above object, the memory card content providing apparatus of the present invention includes a security code storage memory unit for storing an authentication code or a security code and a central processing unit for each memory area, When the memory card is loaded, the security code or authentication code stored in the memory card is read, and if it is confirmed that the security code is stored in the memory card, it is stored in the memory card. The security code is stored in a memory area corresponding to the stored content, and at the same time, the authentication code is stored instead of the security code of the memory card, and the content of the memory card is provided according to a user's selection.

  In order to achieve the above object, the content security method according to the present invention includes a step of checking whether a security code is stored in the memory card, and a case where the security code is stored in the memory card. Storing a security code in a memory area corresponding to the content of the memory card, simultaneously storing an authentication code instead of the security code of the memory card, and providing a content stored in the memory card according to a user's selection. Including.

  As described above, the memory card content providing apparatus and the content security method according to the present invention provide a memory card with a security code attached when various contents are provided using the memory card. The card content providing apparatus can protect the copyright of the content provider by using this security code to determine whether or not the memory card can be used.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention will be described in detail with respect to a memory card content providing apparatus and a content security method of the present invention with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a memory card content providing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
The memory card content providing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes a central processing unit (1) that performs general control, a control operation program of the central processing unit (1), a program that interprets and processes multimedia content, and an internal Program memory (2) for storing multimedia contents, security code storage memory (3) for storing the security code of the memory card, expansion slot (4) for loading and unloading the removable memory card ), An operation unit (5) for inputting a user command, and an output unit (6) including a display unit and an audio output device for outputting processed multimedia contents.

The removable memory card (7) applied to the present invention is provided by inserting an authentication file which is a file for securing contents stored in the memory card (7) in addition to the contents.
In the authentication file, when authentication is not performed, a security code having an independent key value is stored for each content, and the type of content stored in the memory card (7) is stored in the memory card content. Inform the providing device. At the same time, the content stored in the memory card 7 informs that the authentication operation is not performed. When the authentication work is completed, an authentication code is stored by the memory card content providing device, and the content stored in the memory card (7) notifies that the authentication work has been performed.

Here, the memory card content providing apparatus can easily confirm whether or not the authentication work of the content stored in the corresponding memory card (7) can be performed according to the type of code stored in the authentication file. The memory card (7) of the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to FIG.
In addition, the memory area for storing all the security codes that can be provided through the memory card 7 by the corresponding memory card content providing device is allocated to the security code storage memory 3. Each memory area has a corresponding content address for informing its location. The structure of the security code storage memory (3) of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

  The central processing unit (1) of the memory card content providing apparatus configured as described above reads the loaded memory card when the memory card (7) storing the content is loaded into its expansion slot (4). In order to confirm whether or not the authentication work of the content stored in (7) can be performed and whether it can be used, the authentication file of the memory card (7) is read to confirm the type of the stored code.

When the security code is stored in the authentication file, the memory card content providing device determines that the content stored in the inserted memory card (7) does not perform the authentication operation, and the memory card content providing device The central processing unit (1) downloads the security code stored in the authentication file, stores it in the security code storage memory (3), and registers the content stored in the corresponding memory card (7). At the same time, an authentication code is stored in the authentication file of the memory card (7), and the content stored in the memory (7) is informed that the authentication operation has been performed.
When the authentication code is stored in the authentication file, it is determined that the memory card (7) stores the content that has already been authenticated, and the security code is stored at the corresponding content address in the security code storage memory (3). Check if the code is stored.

If the security code corresponding to the content stored in the memory card (7) is stored in the corresponding content address of the security code storage memory (3), the content is normally registered in the corresponding memory card content providing device. The use of the memory card (7) storing the registered contents is confirmed.
However, if the security code corresponding to the content stored in the memory card (7) is not stored at the corresponding content address of the security code storage memory (3), the authentication operation has already been performed by another memory card content providing device. The use of the memory card (7) is prohibited by judging that the memory card (7) stores contents.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the structure of the memory card illustrated in FIG.
The memory card (7) of the present invention is provided in a state where the authentication file (11), the system file (12), and the content file (13) are included by the learning content provider.
The authentication file (11) is a file for authenticating whether or not the content stored in the memory card (7) can be used, and stores a security code provided by the content provider when the memory card (7) is manufactured.

At this time, the security code has an independent value for each content in order to distinguish various contents according to a value set under the agreement of the content provider and the memory card content providing device provider.
For example, it is as follows.
1) English: 1
2) Japanese: 5
3) Chinese: 6
The security codes having various values are downloaded and stored in the corresponding content address of the security code storage memory (3) through the authentication process of the central processing unit (1) of the memory card content providing apparatus, and the memory card content is stored. It informs you that the content is registered on the providing device.

Further, the authentication code is stored in the authentication file of the memory card (7) instead of the security code. This authentication code informs that the memory card is the memory card (7) storing the content that has been subjected to the authentication work.
Next, the system file (12) will be described. The system file (12) stores an operation program for the memory card content providing apparatus to operate the content stored in the memory card (7). In addition, the system file (12) informs the type of content stored in the memory card (7) through the file name, and at the same time, the content address information of the security code storage memory (3) storing its own security code. provide.

For this purpose, the file name of the system file (12) is specified in the format as shown in the following a).
a) Company code (magic) + security code (A) + content version (BC) .sys
The following b) is a first example of the system file name.
b) magic110.sys
The company code is company name information of the content provider, and the security code (A) is a code for distinguishing various contents and has an independent value for each content. The content version (BC) informs the version information of the corresponding content.

The security code (A) included in the system file (12) name is a code having an independent value for each content. The memory card content providing device calculates the content address of the security code storage memory (3) corresponding to the content stored in the memory card by adding a specific value to the security code.
Of course, the security code (A) value and the specific value at this time are negotiated between the content provider and the memory card content providing device provider within a range in which the content content information stored in the memory card (7) can be notified. It can be changed into various forms below.
By using the security code (A) included in the system file (12) name, the memory card content providing device can easily grasp the content address corresponding to the content stored in the memory card (7). it can.

Finally, the content file (13) storing substantial content will be described.
The content file (13) stores character, picture, video and sound data for substantially providing the content. According to the selection of the user of the memory card content providing apparatus, the corresponding data is loaded, and the user can actively use the content stored in the memory card (7).
FIG. 3 schematically shows the security code storage memory shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 3, the security code storage memory (3) is allocated with a memory area in which the corresponding memory card content providing device can store all the security codes that can be provided through the memory card (7). Each memory area has a corresponding content address for indicating its own position.

The content address (21 to 2n) of each memory area is a value obtained by adding the specific value (99) to the security code (1) included in the system file (12) name, and is included in the system file (12) name. Using the security code (1), the content address corresponding to the content stored in the memory card can be easily identified.
In the initial allocation state of the memory areas (31 to 3n), authentication codes ('FF') are stored in all the memory areas. When the authentication operation of the specific content is performed, the security code is downloaded and stored in the corresponding memory area (the content address (for example, 21) corresponding to the corresponding content).

Here, when the central processing unit (1) of the memory card content providing device performs the authentication operation of the content stored in the memory card (7), the code stored in the authentication file of the memory card and the corresponding memory area ( Check whether the security code stored in the content address (21) corresponding to the corresponding content matches the authentication execution availability check condition and the availability check condition, and check whether the content authentication work can be executed and can be used. Can do.
Here, the authentication performance condition is that the security code is stored in the authentication file of the memory card (7) as described above, and the authentication code is stored in the memory area corresponding to the contents of the memory card (7). is there.

The availability condition is a state where the authentication code is stored in the authentication file of the memory card (7) and the security code is stored in the memory area corresponding to the contents of the memory card (7) as described above. .
FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a content security method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
It is detected that the memory card (7) storing the contents is loaded into the expansion slot (step S1).
An authentication file (11) in which a security code or an authentication code is stored in the memory card (7) at this time, a system file (12) for operating the content, and characters for substantially providing the content, It contains a content file (13) that stores picture, video and sound data.

When the memory card (7) is loaded, the authentication file (11) of the memory card (7) is automatically checked in order to confirm whether the contents stored in the memory card (7) can be authenticated and used. Reading (step S2).
It is checked whether the security code ('A') or the authentication code ('FF') is stored in the authentication file (11) (step S3).
If the security code ('A') is stored in the authentication file (11), it is confirmed that the memory card (7) is a memory card storing content that has not been authenticated. . If the authentication code ('FF') is stored in the authentication file (11), the memory card (7) has already been authenticated by the corresponding memory card content providing device or another memory card content providing device. Confirm that it is a memory card (7) that stores content that has been processed.

As a result of the confirmation in step S3, if the security code ('A') is stored in the authentication file (11), it is confirmed that the memory card content providing device is the first memory card that stores the content to be authenticated. Then, it is confirmed whether the authentication code is stored in the memory area corresponding to the content stored in the memory card (step S4).
After grasping the memory area corresponding to the content stored in the memory card, reading the security code included in the system file name of the memory card, the content provider and the memory card content providing device provider in the read security code The specific values set under the agreement of The value calculated in this way becomes an address value that informs the position of the corresponding memory area, and the specific value at this time is set so that the calculated value corresponds to the security code stored in the authentication file.

If the authentication code is stored in the corresponding memory area (31), the security code stored in the authentication file is downloaded and written (step S5).
When the writing of the security code is completed, an authentication code (11) is stored in the authentication file (11) of the memory card (7) to notify that the content stored in the memory card (7) is the content authenticated by the corresponding memory card content providing device. 'FF') is written (step S6).
The contents stored in the memory card are provided according to the user's selection (step S7).
As a result of the confirmation in step S3, if the authentication code ('FF') is stored in the authentication file (11), it is confirmed whether the security code is stored in the memory area corresponding to the content stored in the memory card (step S8). ).

If the security code is stored in the corresponding memory area, it is confirmed that the content stored in the memory card 7 has been authenticated through the corresponding memory card content providing apparatus, and the process proceeds to step S7.
As a result of the confirmation in step S8, if the authentication code ('FF') is stored in the corresponding memory area (31), the content stored in the memory card (7) is authenticated through another memory card content providing device. And confirming that the content cannot be used by the corresponding memory card content providing device (step S9).
The content stored in the internal program memory (2) is provided according to the user's selection (step S10).

  In the above, embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and without departing from the spirit of the present invention claimed in the following claims. It goes without saying that anyone having ordinary knowledge in the field of the present invention can make various modifications, and such modifications are within the scope of the claims.

The block diagram of the memory card content provision apparatus which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. 2 is a diagram illustrating the structure of the memory card illustrated in FIG. 1. 2 is a simplified diagram illustrating a memory structure for storing the security code illustrated in FIG. 1. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a content security method according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

Explanation of symbols

1. Central processing unit 2. Program memory 3. Security code storage memory 4. Expansion slot 5. Operation unit 6. Output unit 7. Memory card

Claims (10)

A memory card content providing apparatus capable of providing content from a memory card, including a security code storage memory unit for storing an authentication code or a security code for each memory area, and a central processing unit,
The central processing unit is
a) When the memory card is loaded, it reads a security card or an authentication code stored in the memory card,
b) When it is confirmed that the security code is stored in the memory card, the security code is stored in the memory area corresponding to the content stored in the memory card and at the same time the security code of the memory card is stored. Instead, store the authorization code,
c) The memory card content providing apparatus, which provides the content of the memory card according to a user's selection. The central processing unit is
a) When it is confirmed that the authentication code is stored in the memory card, whether the security code is stored in the memory area corresponding to the content stored in the memory card or the authentication code is stored Check
b) if the security code is stored in the memory area, providing the content stored in the memory card according to the user's selection;
2. The memory card content providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the authentication code is stored in the memory area, the memory card content providing apparatus notifies that the memory card cannot be used.   The memory card includes a code storage area for storing a security code or an authentication code, a content data storage area for storing content data, and a system file storage area for storing a system file for operating the content. 2. The memory card content providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:   4. The memory according to claim 3, wherein the system file name for managing the contents of the system file storage area is attached with the same code value as the security code stored in the code storage area of the memory card. Card content providing device.   The address of the memory area corresponding to the content is a value obtained by adding a security code extracted with a system file name for operating the content of the system file storage area of the memory card and a specific value. Item 4. The memory card content providing device according to Item 1.   6. The memory card content providing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the specific value corresponds to a security code stored in a code storage area of the memory card by adding the security code extracted by the system file name. In the content security method of the memory card content providing device, confirming whether a security code is stored in the memory card;
If a security code is stored in the memory card, storing the security code in a memory area corresponding to the corresponding content and simultaneously storing an authentication code instead of the security code of the memory card;
Providing a content stored in the memory card according to a user's selection. If an authentication code is stored in the memory card, checking whether a security code is stored in a memory area corresponding to the content;
When a security code is stored in a memory area corresponding to the content, providing the content stored in the memory card;
8. The content security method according to claim 7, further comprising a step of notifying that the memory card cannot be used when an authentication code is stored in a memory area corresponding to the content.   9. The address of the memory area corresponding to the content is a value obtained by adding a specific value after obtaining a security code with a system file name stored in the memory card. Content security method. 10. The content security method according to claim 9, wherein the specific value corresponds to a security code stored in the memory card by adding a security code extracted by a system file name stored in the memory card.

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