KR20080072338A - Method and apparatus for managing content - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for managing contents are provided to extract effective information which shows an effective period, to store descrambled contents and the effective information, and to read/renew/delete the effective information based on the renewed status of the effective period periodically, thereby obtaining more storage space. A broadcasting receiver comprises a smart card(101), a broadcasting receiving part(110), a limit receiving part(120), an AV recovery part(130), a smart cart reading part(140), an effective information checking part(150), a CPU(Central Processing Unit,160), a content storage medium(170), and a content management part(180). The broadcasting receiving part has a tuner(111) and a demodulator(113). The effective information checking part extracts only effective information which shows an effective period in which a user can watch a specific channel or content. The AV recovery part recovers video and audio signals, and has a demultiplexer(131), an AV decoder(133), and an AV printer(135). The content storage medium stores the contents descrambled by the limit receiving part by the CPU and stores effective information which shows the effective period when the contents have the effective period. The content management part checks the effective information, renews the effective period of the contents based on the effective information extracted by the effective information checking part, or deletes the contents from the content storage medium.

Description

Device and method for managing content {METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGING CONTENT}

1 is a block diagram of a broadcast receiver employing a content management device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a flowchart illustrating a content management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

101: smart card 110: broadcast receiving unit

120: restriction receiver 130: AV recovery unit

140: smart card reader 150: valid information confirmation unit

160: central processing unit 170: content storage unit

180: content management unit

The present invention relates to a content management apparatus and method, and more particularly, to a content management apparatus and method for storing content received through a broadcast signal and managing its validity period.

With the recent rapid increase in digital multimedia services in the digital broadcasting environment, copyright protection and management techniques for efficiently protecting and managing the interests of the service providers and the rights of consumers are very important. In particular, digital data is very easy to copy in large quantities, and can be quickly and widely transmitted and distributed, and the copied digital works are of the same quality as originals and have high flexibility for editing and compositing. Management skills are becoming more important.

In addition, in the digital broadcasting, a so-called conditional access system (CAS) has been adopted in order to provide a paid broadcasting service so that only the authenticated subscribers who have legitimate reception rights can receive various multimedia data transmitted. Through such a limited reception system, the user authenticates the set-top box for each broadcast signal, and the user can view only the authorized signals, thereby achieving a pay billing policy for each broadcast. You have the right to view time or schedule content.

On the other hand, contents that have an expiration date can be viewed and viewed from time to time within the validity period, or can be viewed and stored in a separate storage medium. To protect copyright. For example, when the validity period of the content expires, the content is scrambled to make viewing impossible or viewing is not possible by preventing the AV restoration process for viewing even if the content is descrambled.

However, there is a problem in that the content whose valid period has elapsed remains in the storage medium and occupies the storage space of the storage medium unnecessarily.

In addition, when the user of the smart card has renewed the validity period, the separately stored contents also have the right to watch during the renewal validity period. If the contents are scrambled due to the expiration of the validity period, the contents of the smart card can be viewed after descrambling again. There was a hassle to do.

The present invention has been proposed to solve such a conventional problem. When the validity period needs to be renewed while periodically checking the validity period of the contents stored in the storage medium, the content of the corresponding content is determined according to the existence of the renewal authority. By updating the expiration date or deleting the corresponding content from the storage medium, the trouble of having to descramble and watch again the scrambled content due to the passage of the expiration date is eliminated, and unnecessary content does not occupy the storage space of the storage medium. Its purpose is to.

A content management device according to an aspect of the present invention for realizing the above object is a content management device for managing content stored together with valid information in a content storage unit of a broadcast receiver based on valid information of a smart card. The valid information checking unit for extracting valid information of the information and the valid information stored in the contents storage unit periodically reading and confirming and updating the valid information stored in the contents storage unit based on the valid information extracted by the validity information checking unit It includes a content management unit.

A content management method according to another aspect of the present invention is a content management method for managing content stored in a broadcast receiver with valid information based on smart card valid information, the method comprising: extracting valid information from a smart card; Periodically reading and confirming valid information stored in the terminal to determine whether an update is necessary, and updating valid information stored in a broadcast receiver based on valid information extracted from a smart card when the validity period needs to be updated. .

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in describing the present invention, when it is determined that the detailed description of the related known configuration or function may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

1 is a block diagram of a broadcast receiver employing a content management device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown therein, the broadcast receiver includes a smart card 101, a broadcast receiving unit 110, a limit receiving unit 120, an AV decompressing unit 130, a smart card reading unit 140, an effective information checking unit 150, and a center. The processor 160, the content storage unit 170, the content manager 180, and the like are configured.

The broadcast receiver 110 serves to receive a broadcast signal and includes a tuner 111 and a demodulator 113. The tuner 111 receives the broadcast signal, converts it into an intermediate frequency, and provides the demodulator 113 with the intermediate frequency. For example, the received broadcast signal is processed to detect an I / Q signal, and the detected I / Q signal is provided to the demodulator 113. The demodulator 113 restores the transport stream from the signal changed to the intermediate frequency, and provides the restored transport stream to the restriction receiver 120. For example, the demodulator 113 may include a quadratic phase shift keying (QPSK) demodulator (not shown) and a forward error correction (FEC) demodulator (not shown), and perform QPSK demodulation and FEC error correction processes.

The restriction receiver 120 performs a user authentication process on the restored transport stream using the smart card 101 and descrambles the scrambled transport stream when the user authentication is normally performed. If it is provided to the neutralizer 131, but normal user authentication is not completed, a process is complete | finished. In this case, scrambling refers to mixing content to be transmitted in a predetermined rule so that a receiver without permission to view cannot be able to watch the scrambled content.

The user authentication process performed in the limited reception unit 120 will be described in more detail. The smart card 101 supplied from a conditional access system (CAS) provider contains information about the subscriber. The smart card 101 is a card inserted into the broadcast receiver from the outside, and is a memory means that can be detached and read and written by a user's operation. The smart card 101 is read by the smart card reader 140, and the read information is provided to the limit receiving unit 120 through the valid information checking unit 150.

The validity information checking unit 150 extracts only valid information indicating the validity period during which the user can watch a specific channel or specific content from the information read by the smart card reader 140.

The restriction receiver 120 compares the valid information (or authentication information) included in the transport stream provided from the demodulator 113 with the valid information read by the smart card reader 140 to determine whether the user of the broadcast receiver is authorized to receive the information. The process of determining the user's authentication is performed. Examples of valid information included in the transport stream include an entitled command message (ECM) and an entitlement management message (EMM). As a result, if it is determined that the user is receivable content, descrambling of the selected content starts.

The selected content is descrambled in real time in order by the limit receiver 120 one by one. The descrambled transport stream is restored by the demultiplexer 131, the AV decoder 133, or the like, and is displayed or stored in the content storage unit 170.

The AV decompressor 130 restores the original video signal and the audio signal by using the transport stream transmitted from the restriction receiver 120. The demultiplexer 131, the AV decoder 133, and the AV output unit 135 It may be configured to include).

The demultiplexer 131, under control of the central processing unit 160, parses the provided transport stream descrambled from the conditional receiver 120 to separate the video signal and the audio signal for each broadcast, and divides them into the AV decoder ( 133).

The AV decoder 133 includes a video decoder and an audio decoder, and delivers the demultiplexed video signal and the audio signal to the AV output unit 135. The AV decoder 133 is a video decompression method such as Moving Picture Experts Group-2 (MPEG-2) and Moving Picture Experts Group-2 (MPEG-4), or MPEG Layer-3 (MP3) and MP4 (MPEG Layer). -4) and audio decompression schemes such as AC-3 (Audio Compression 3).

The AV output unit 135 processes the input video signal and the audio signal and provides them to the video output device and the audio output device, respectively. For example, the AV output 135 processes video using an NTSC encoder, which decodes the video signal and then outputs the decoded video signal to the video output device side. Of course, it is possible to replace NTSC encoder with PAL encoder. In addition, the AV output unit 135 decodes an audio signal using an audio decoder and a digital-to-analog converter and outputs it to an external audio output device.

The central processing unit 160 controls the entire broadcast receiver system. In the drawings, the central processing unit 160 is individually implemented, but the limit receiver 120, the demultiplexer 131, the AV decoder 133, the content management unit 180, and the like are used to utilize speed or performance exclusively. You can also implement it in a built-in way.

When the user selects to store the content, the content storage unit 170 stores the content descrambled by the limit receiving unit 120 under the control of the central processing unit 160. In this case, in the case of content having an expiration date, valid information (eg, a qualification management message) indicating the expiration date is stored together. In the process of protecting copyright by using the valid information, whenever the user attempts to play, the validity information of the corresponding content is checked to allow the AV restoration process only when the validity period has not elapsed. In the process of protecting copyright by using a copyright protection program that is embedded in a firmware receiver or provided in a transport stream with the content, the copyright protection program scrambles the content when the validity period of the content expires. Makes this impossible.

The content manager 180 periodically reads and confirms valid information (for example, a qualification management message) stored together with the content in the content storage unit 170, and when the renewal of the valid period is necessary, the content manager 180 sends the valid information to the valid information checking unit 150. If there is a renewal authority based on the validity information extracted by the user, the validity period of the corresponding content is renewed or if there is no renewal authority, the corresponding content is deleted from the content storage unit 170.

A process of updating the validity period of a content or deleting the corresponding content by the content management device according to an embodiment of the present invention in the broadcast receiver configured as above will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

First, the broadcast signal transmitted from the broadcast signal transmitter is received through the tuner 111 and converted into an intermediate frequency (S201). The broadcast signal converted to the intermediate frequency is demodulated by the demodulator 113 and the transport stream restored is provided to the limit receiver 120 (S203).

At this time, when the transport stream does not require user authentication, the restriction receiver 120 bypasses the transport stream, and the transport stream is output as an audio signal or a video signal through demultiplexing and AV decoding. On the other hand, if the transmission stream requires user authentication, the limit receiving unit 120 is the contents of the smart card 101 inserted into the broadcast receiver through the smart card reader 140 and valid information confirmation unit 150 If delivered, it is read (S205).

Thereafter, the restriction receiver 120 compares the valid information included in the transport stream provided from the demodulator 113 with the information read by the smart card reader 140 and transmitted through the valid information checker 150 to broadcast. It is determined whether the user of the receiver has a reception right (S207), and as a result, if it is determined that the user can receive the content, the transport stream is descrambled (S209).

The validity information checking unit 150 extracts only valid information indicating the validity period during which the user can watch a specific channel or a specific content from the information read by the smart card reader 140, The descrambled transport stream is output by the AV decompression unit 130 as an audio signal or a video signal through demultiplexing and AV decoding.

Meanwhile, when the user selects to store the content, the content storage unit 170 stores the content descrambled by the restriction receiving unit 120 together with the valid information (or the qualification management message) under the control of the central processing unit 160. (S211).

Here, in the case of content having an expiration date, the content can be reproduced and watched at any time while being stored in the content storage unit 170 within the expiration date. Will be protected. For example, when the validity period of the content expires, the copyright protection program scrambles the content so that viewing is not possible, or even when the content is descrambled, the copyright protection program checks the validity information of the content whenever the user tries to play the content. AV restoration processing is allowed only if it has not elapsed.

However, if the content that has passed the expiration date remains in the content storage unit 170, the storage space of the content storage unit 170 is unnecessarily occupied. If the user of the smart card 101 renews the validity period, the content is used. The content stored in the storage unit 170 also has a right to watch during an updated validity period. If the content is scrambled due to the passage of the validity period, the content must be viewed after descrambling again.

Accordingly, the content manager 180 periodically reads and confirms valid information (eg, a qualification management message) stored with the content in the content storage unit 170 (S213) to determine whether the renewal of the validity period is necessary. For example, if the remaining valid period falls below the preset threshold by checking the validity information of the content at a predetermined time period or a predetermined date period, it is determined that the validity period is updated (S215).

When it is determined that the validity period of the specific content needs to be updated, the validity information checking unit 150 delivers valid information extracted from the smart card 101 to the content manager 180 under the control of the central processing unit 160 ( In step S217, the content manager 180 compares the valid information of the smart card 101 with the valid information of the content to determine whether there is an update authority (S219).

Here, if it is determined that the smart card 101 has an update authority, the content manager 180 updates valid information of the content stored in the content storage unit 170 based on the valid information of the smart card 101. That is, the validity period of the corresponding content is corrected to the validity period stored in the smart card 101 to extend the period (S221).

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S219 that the valid information extracted from the smart card 101 does not have the right to update the contents of the content storage unit 170, a central processing unit generates a message for guiding the end time of validity of the corresponding content. Forward to 160. Then, the central processing unit 160 outputs the content valid period guide message received from the content management unit 180 to the outside through the AV restoration unit 130 (S223).

In addition, when a deletion request for the corresponding content is generated by the user who confirms the content valid period guide message, the central processing unit 160 deletes the corresponding content from the content storage unit 170. In addition, if it is determined in step S215 that the validity period of the specific content has already passed and it is determined in step S217 that the user does not have the right to renew the validity period, the content manager 180 stores the corresponding content stored in the content storage unit 170. It is also possible to secure the storage space by deleting the content (S225).

It has been described so far limited to one embodiment of the present invention, it is obvious that the technology of the present invention can be easily modified by those skilled in the art. Such modified embodiments should be construed as naturally included in the technical spirit described in the claims of the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the validity period is updated while periodically checking the validity period of the content stored in the storage medium, the validity period of the corresponding content is updated or the storage medium is updated according to the existence of the renewal authority. Delete the content from.

Therefore, the expiration of the scrambled content by the expiration of the expiration time to eliminate the hassle and unnecessary content to take up the storage space of the storage medium to secure the storage space.

Claims (6)

A content management device for managing contents stored together with valid information in a content storage unit of a broadcast receiver based on valid information of a smart card, A valid information checking unit for extracting valid information of the smart card; The content management unit periodically reads and confirms the valid information stored in the content storage unit and updates the valid information stored in the content storage unit based on the valid information extracted by the validity information checking unit when an update is necessary. Content management device comprising a. The method of claim 1, The content management unit may provide a message to the broadcast receiver to inform the broadcast receiver of the validity period of the content when the valid information extracted by the valid information checking unit does not have an authority to update valid information stored in the content storage unit. Content management device. The method of claim 2, If it is determined that the valid information extracted by the valid information checking unit does not have an authority to update valid information stored in the content storage unit, and the valid period of the content has already passed, the content management unit returns the content. To be removed from the content store Content management device. A content management method of managing contents stored together with valid information in a broadcast receiver based on valid information of a smart card, (a) extracting valid information from the smart card; (b) periodically reading and confirming valid information stored in the broadcast receiver to determine whether an update is necessary; (c) updating the valid information stored in the broadcast receiver based on the valid information extracted from the smart card when the valid period needs to be updated. Content management method comprising a. The method of claim 4, wherein The content management method may include: (d) if the valid information extracted from the smart card in step (c) does not have a right to update valid information stored in the broadcast receiver, providing a message indicating a valid period of the content; Providing to the broadcast receiver Content management method comprising a. The method of claim 5, wherein In the content management method, it is determined that the valid information extracted from the smart card in step (d) does not have a right to update valid information stored in the broadcast receiver and the valid period of the content has already passed. If it is determined that the content is deleted from the broadcast receiver; Content management method comprising a.

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