Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
  • H04L63/04—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks
  • H04L63/0428—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
  • H04L63/045—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply hybrid encryption, i.e. combination of symmetric and asymmetric encryption
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
  • H04L63/04—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks
  • H04L63/0428—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
  • H04L63/0464—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload using hop-by-hop encryption, i.e. wherein an intermediate entity decrypts the information and re-encrypts it before forwarding it
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
  • H04L63/06—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for supporting key management in a packet data network
  • H04L63/061—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for supporting key management in a packet data network for key exchange, e.g. in peer-to-peer networks
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
  • H04L63/08—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for authentication of entities
  • H04L63/0823—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for authentication of entities using certificates
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
  • H04L63/10—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for controlling access to devices or network resources
  • H04L63/101—Access control lists [ACL]
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/20—Servers specifically adapted for the distribution of content, e.g. VOD servers; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/23—Processing of content or additional data; Elementary server operations; Server middleware
  • H04N21/234—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams, manipulating MPEG-4 scene graphs
  • H04N21/2347—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing of video streams, manipulating MPEG-4 scene graphs involving video stream encryption
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/41—Structure of client; Structure of client peripherals
  • H04N21/418—External card to be used in combination with the client device, e.g. for conditional access
  • H04N21/4181—External card to be used in combination with the client device, e.g. for conditional access for conditional access
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/40—Client devices specifically adapted for the reception of or interaction with content, e.g. set-top-box [STB]; Operations thereof
  • H04N21/43—Processing of content or additional data, e.g. demultiplexing additional data from a digital video stream; Elementary client operations, e.g. monitoring of home network or synchronising decoder's clock; Client middleware
  • H04N21/44—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing a video clip retrieved from local storage with an incoming video stream, rendering scenes according to MPEG-4 scene graphs
  • H04N21/4405—Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing a video clip retrieved from local storage with an incoming video stream, rendering scenes according to MPEG-4 scene graphs involving video stream decryption
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/60—Network structure or processes for video distribution between server and client or between remote clients; Control signalling between clients, server and network components; Transmission of management data between server and client, e.g. sending from server to client commands for recording incoming content stream; Communication details between server and client 
  • H04N21/63—Control signaling related to video distribution between client, server and network components; Network processes for video distribution between server and clients or between remote clients, e.g. transmitting basic layer and enhancement layers over different transmission paths, setting up a peer-to-peer communication via Internet between remote STB's; Communication protocols; Addressing
  • H04N21/633—Control signals issued by server directed to the network components or client
  • H04N21/6332—Control signals issued by server directed to the network components or client directed to client
  • H04N21/6334—Control signals issued by server directed to the network components or client directed to client for authorisation, e.g. by transmitting a key
  • H04N21/63345—Control signals issued by server directed to the network components or client directed to client for authorisation, e.g. by transmitting a key by transmitting keys
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N7/00—Television systems
  • H04N7/16—Analogue secrecy systems; Analogue subscription systems
  • H04N7/167—Systems rendering the television signal unintelligible and subsequently intelligible
  • H04N7/1675—Providing digital key or authorisation information for generation or regeneration of the scrambling sequence

Definitions

• the present invention refers, in general, to a system designed for reproducing protected contents in apparatuses such as television sets or HiFi systems.
• the present invention refers to a system for allowing enjoyment of multimedia contents formed for instance by images and/or sounds.
• apparatuses television sets, HiFi systems
• each apparatus is equipped with a number of STB corresponding to the number of channels platforms (platforms) that the user intends to use and that the user owns a personalised card to be inserted into the STB containing profile or qualification data suitable for enabling the user to enjoy given contents.
• a clear problem of such situation is that each apparatus, present for instance inside a house or a homogeneous context, is equipped with one or more STB depending on the number of platforms that the user intends to use and that each STB is equipped with storage, recording and management devices, this generally resulting in that the presence becomes necessary, inside houses or homogeneous context, of a surplus of STB devices generally oversized with consequent increase of costs and consumptions.
• the object of the present invention is a system for reproducing heterogeneous contents that overcomes the abovementioned problems of the known art.
• the object is achieved by the system for reproducing heterogeneous contents, in particular multimedia contents, as claimed.
• the present invention also concerns a method for reproducing contents, an apparatus for distributing encoded and non-encoded contents and a device for receiving heterogeneous contents.
• the present invention also relates to a computer program product loadable in the memory of at least one computer unit and including software code portions for performing the steps of the method of the invention when the product is run on at least one computer unit.
• a computer program product is meant as equivalent to the reference to computer readable medium containing instructions for controlling a system or a device so as to co-ordinate execution of the method according to the invention.
• Reference to ⁇ at least one computer unit is meant to highlight the possibility for the method of the invention to be carried out in a decentralized manner over a plurality of computer units.
• the system comprises a central apparatus designed for receiving heterogeneous contents and for distributing them encrypted to a preset devices list stored in the same central apparatus .
• the contents are distributed under encoded and non-encoded forms by a contents Supplier.
• the system is designed for enabling or preventing the contents enjoyment depending on the user profiles stored inside the apparatus.
• Fig. 1 represents a general scheme of a system according to the invention
• Fig. 2 schematically represents the structure of a control central element according to the invention
• Fig. 3 schematically represents the structure of a decoder device for reproducing apparatuses according to the invention. Description of a Preferred Embodiment
• a system 10 comprises, according to the preferred embodiment, a control and encryption central apparatus (server) 12 and a plurality of decryption devices (devices) 14a, 14b, ..., 14n connected to the server 12, for instance through a local network 18 of the Ethernet kind or through available electrical connections or telephonic pairs.
• server control and encryption central apparatus
• devices devices 14a, 14b, ..., 14n connected to the server 12, for instance through a local network 18 of the Ethernet kind or through available electrical connections or telephonic pairs.
• the server 12 comprises a micro-processor board (server board) 20 (Fig. 1, Fig. 2) , for instance a mother-board of the known type for Personal Computer (PC) connected through a BUS 22 of the known type to units of the known type, such as for instance, a hard disk 23, a DVD reader (Digital Versatile Disk) 24 and a preset number of tuning units (tuners) 25, preferably in a number higher than or equal to the number of the devices 14a, 14b, ..., 14n.
• server board 20 Fig. 1, Fig. 2
• a mother-board of the known type for Personal Computer (PC) connected through a BUS 22 of the known type to units of the known type, such as for instance, a hard disk 23, a DVD reader (Digital Versatile Disk) 24 and a preset number of tuning units (tuners) 25, preferably in a number higher than or equal to the number of the devices 14a, 14b, ..., 14n.
• the server 12 also comprises, preferably associated to the server board 20, at least one first kind of connection components 27 designed for being connected to receiving devices 17, for instance a Internet network and/or a satellite antenna and so on, suitable for receiving contents distributed by one or more contents Suppliers (Suppliers) , and at least one second kind of connection components 28 suitable for being connected, for instance to the local network 18, for transmitting the contents to the devices 14a, 14b, ... , 14n.
• first kind of connection components 27 designed for being connected to receiving devices 17, for instance a Internet network and/or a satellite antenna and so on, suitable for receiving contents distributed by one or more contents Suppliers (Suppliers)
• second kind of connection components 28 suitable for being connected, for instance to the local network 18, for transmitting the contents to the devices 14a, 14b, ... , 14n.
• the server 12 comprises, furthermore, associated to the server board 20, at least one slot 29 for the insertion of a qualification card 19 of the known kind preset, for instance, for enabling the enjoyment of certain contents, generally encoded, supplied by a certain contents Supplier.
• the server 12 comprises, also, an operating system for PC, for instance the operating system LINUX release 6.2 and a database management system of the relational kind (DBMS) , for instance the database management system MySQL of the known type, designed for managing and storing the data handled by the server, as it will be described in detail later on.
• DBMS database management system of the relational kind
• the server 12 comprises, preferably mounted onto the server board 20, a cryptographic processor 31 of the known type, for instance a cryptographic processor designed, as it will be described in detail later on,- for encrypting the contents transmitted by each contents Supplier and managing, through the exchange of digital certificates with the devices 14a, 14b, ... , 14n, belonging to a certain devices family, the encryption and decryption of the contents received by the server 12.
• a cryptographic processor 31 of the known type for instance a cryptographic processor designed, as it will be described in detail later on,- for encrypting the contents transmitted by each contents Supplier and managing, through the exchange of digital certificates with the devices 14a, 14b, ... , 14n, belonging to a certain devices family, the encryption and decryption of the contents received by the server 12.
• the server 12 comprises, for instance stored into the hard disk 23, a plurality of programs (package) 33 developed during the design step of the system 10 and designed for allowing the enjoyment by one or more users of the contents received through the contents receiving devices 17 and distributed, encrypted, through the local network 18.
• the package (server package) 33 comprises a set of program modules in which there are provided, inter alia :
• - modules designed for encrypting and controlling through digital certificates the distribution to the devices 14a, 14b, ..., 14n of the acquired contents; - modules designed for managing the distribution to the devices 14a, 14b, ... , 14n of live contents or of recorded contents; preferably such program modules provide for functions allowing to put into pause mode a live program or a content and to resume it on a subsequent time without losing the content not seen, or to transfer the distribution of the content to another device 14a, 14b, ..., 14n without losing the content not seen;
• modules designed for managing, for instance through the relational Data Base DBMS, one or more user profiles so that the distribution of the contents and their enjoyment is influenced by the user profile as identified following a request transmitted to the server by one of the devices; preferably such modules comprise functionalities of "parental control" designed for enabling or preventing, for instance, the sight of certain contents by under ages.
• the decryption devices (devices) 14a, 14b, ..., 14n have, preferably, corresponding input connections 48a, 48b, ..., 48n connected for instance to the local network 18 and corresponding output connections 49a, 49b, ..., 49n connected, in a known way, to corresponding reproducing apparatuses 41a, 41b, ..., 41n, for instance television sets, HiFi systems, and so on.
• the devices 14a, 14b, ..., 14n, according to the preferred embodiment are controlled by corresponding control units 45a, 45b, ... , 45n, for instance telecontrol of the known type with IR (Infra-Red) connection to the devices and are suitable, in particular, for requesting to the server 12 the contents enjoyment.
• control units 45a, 45b, ... , 45n for instance telecontrol of the known type with IR (Infra-Red) connection to the devices and are suitable, in particular, for requesting to the server 12 the contents enjoyment.
• the device 14a even carrying out functions of Set Top Box, as it will be described in detail later on, has a structure particularly simple since it does not comprise tuner/s and storage supports necessary for storing contents distributed by the different Suppliers (Hard Disk and/or DVD) .
• the device 14a comprises, preferably, an electronic board 40 (Fig. 1, Fig. 3) having a processing central unit 42, for instance a SOC (System On Chip) model 7405 of the Broadcom company, optimised for the multimedia reproduction of images and/or sounds in standard definition (SD) or high definition (HD) television sets.
• SD standard definition
• HD high definition
• the device 14a further comprises, connected to the processing central unit (SOC) 42, a mass storage 43, for instance a solid state drive (SSD) , a cryptographic processor 51 of the known type, preferably mounted onto the board 40 and having features corresponding to those of the cryptographic processor 31 mounted onto the server board 20, and an operating system for PC, for instance the operating system LINUX release 6.2.
• SOC processing central unit
• mass storage 43 for instance a solid state drive (SSD)
• cryptographic processor 51 of the known type preferably mounted onto the board 40 and having features corresponding to those of the cryptographic processor 31 mounted onto the server board 20
• an operating system for PC for instance the operating system LINUX release 6.2.
• the device 14a can also comprise a slot 59 designed for allowing the insertion of a personal qualification card 69.
• the device 14a comprises, also, for instance stored into the mass storage 43, a plurality of programs (package) 53 developed during the design step of the system 10 and designed for allowing the enjoyment by one or more users of the contents received from the device 14a.
• the package (device package) 53 comprises a set of program modules in which there are provided, inter alia:
• - modules designed for receiving from the telecontrol 45a or reading on the card 69 information comprising a user identification and for transmitting at least the user identification, for instance encrypted, to the server 12 so as to allow the user and his/her profile identification;
• the system 10 (Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3) as described shows an architecture providing, according to the present implementation example, that - the server 12 comprises stored into its cryptographic processor 31:
• each qualified device 14a, 14b, ... , 14n comprises stored into its cryptographic processor 51:
• the server 12 is suitable for: receiving the contents, encoded and non-encoded, transmitted by the contents Suppliers;
• the requiring device is suitable for: decrypting the channel selected by the user and reproducing it on the reproducing apparatus connected to the device on the basis of the encryption and decryption keys exchanged with the server 12.
• the architecture of the system 10 provides, preferably, that an external authority (CA Certification 'Authority) 70 supplies the digital certificates for each installation in which a server 12 and a preset number of devices 14a, 14b, ... , 14n belonging to a family of devices to be associated to the server 12 are comprised.
• CA Certification 'Authority an external authority
• the devices of the devices family can belong to the same local network or be connected to the server according to different ways since the qualification to the contents enjoyment is determined by the certificates stored into the cryptographic processors, 31 and 51 respectively, of the server 12 and of the devices 14a, 14b, ..., 14n belonging to the family. If the number of devices associated to the server 12 and qualified for using the contents received and managed by the server changes, the CA 70 itself will provide, upon request, for instance by a user, carried out with proper program modules developed during the design step of the system 10, to consequently modify the number of digital certificates stored into the cryptographic processor of the server and to enable/disable the corresponding device by updating inside the cryptographic processor of the same the corresponding certificate .
• the digital certificates issued by the CA 70 preferably, has a preset life or duration.
• the CA 70 is suitable to both issue certificates and interrupt and restart the certificates through, for instance, program modules of the known type suitable for generating a revocation list and on-line status control protocols, of the known type.
• the more general architecture above described which provides for the storage of digital certificates in the cryptographic processor of the server and of the devices belonging to the same family, meets the need of assuring to the contents Suppliers, who offer satellite-transmitted, cable-transmitted, terrestrial digital-transmitted, IP networks-transmitted, and so on, television programs, a safe way of the contents distribution at least as far as the duration of the contents use and the number of users qualified for the contents enjoyment are concerned.
• the CA 70 owns a Requests Management System designed for receiving the certificates requests and transmitting them, in the form of messages, to a SMTPS server, of the known type, that deposits them in a destination mail-box.
• the requests can be transmitted to the CA 70, through proper program modules developed during the design step of the system 10, by users of the system through the server 12 and the Internet network or by Companies producing and/or selling the system.
• the requests reception allows to open at the CA 70 the generation procedure of the certificates to be inserted in the cryptographic processors of a certain family or of a plurality of families.
• the CA 70 is arranged to carry out at least functions of: - generating certificates; - acquiring data to be used for generating certificates; controlling the certificates status through Internet connections to different servers 12; updating the certificates status through Internet connections to the different servers 12.
• the different functions are generally carried out with the support of a Relational Database suitable for allowing the storage of both the partial and the final data of the processings.
• the CA owns program modules that manage the life cycle of the certificates (System of Integration and Aggregation of the data relevant to the Certificates SIAC) , which has the duty of collecting both the data coming from the CA (basis codes for the certificates creation) and data concerning the requests (data relevant to the server 12 and associated devices or data relevant to the user' s name or user identification) and creating the certificate to be sent according to a known way, for instance, to a Services Centre qualified to distribute the certificates, in the form of cards to be inserted into the servers 12 and into the devices 14a, 14b, ...
• the CA simultaneously generates, according to a known way, also PIN (Personal Identification Number) and PUK (Personal Unblocking Key) codes suitable for being processed by the cryptographic microprocessors of the servers and of the devices .
• PIN Personal Identification Number
• PUK Personal Unblocking Key
• the functioning of the system 10, as described, provides, for instance according to the more general way, that upon purchase by a user of a server and of a certain number of devices for receiving and enjoying contents (a system 10), the Company producing or selling the system asks to the CA 70 a group or set of certificates corresponding to the system 10 purchased by the user and stores them in the server and in the devices.
• the user is able, on the basis of the programs developed during the design step of the system: to receive with the server 12 different non-encoded channels; - to personalise the profile of each user; and
• the distribution step of the required channel provides, according to the preferred embodiment, that:
• the system 10 as described thus allows a user to display an encoded or non-encoded content, for instance in each room of the house, even coming from different contents Suppliers and from different receiving devices of contents (satellite, terrestrial digital, IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) , personal television camera) , to use services such as the pause mode and the postponed sight, to use the follow-me functionality, that is to start the display in one room and then to recover it in another room, just for citing the main functionalities, by conveniently using the digital certificates .
• the enjoyment can, for instance, be carried out by using a computer or a portable telephone connected to the server under different known ways.
• both the computer and the portable telephone must have qualification certificates and have such certificates present in the server.

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Family Cites Families (5)

• 2008
  • 2008-07-28 EP EP08808205A patent/EP2329647A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2008-07-28 WO PCT/IT2008/000505 patent/WO2010013260A1/en active Application Filing

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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