KR20010019213A - Charge Adjustment system and Method Using Smart Card in case of Watching Paid Broadcasting and Method of Program Class Management using The Same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A payment system and method of a pay TV is provided to settle the fee by a smart card without an additional process after accessing an online program server, and store program rate data in the smart card to manage the teleview program according to the rate so that it can enhance a pay TV teleview process. CONSTITUTION: The method comprises steps of a user selecting a pay TV program(S2), a set top box checking if a smart card is inserted(S4), the set top box requesting an insertion of the smart card and the user inserting the smart card into the set top box(S6), executing a mutual authentication between a system and the smart card(S8), the system checking a money left over the smart card and comparing the money with the fee of the selected program(S10), the system displaying a message of charging the smart card if the money left over the smart card is less than the program fee(S12), and the system withdrawing the program fee from the remainder of the smart card and recording the result on the smart card(S14).

Description

Charge Adjustment system and Method Using Smart Card in case of Watching Paid Broadcasting and Method of Program Class Management using The Same}

The present invention relates to a paid broadcast viewing fee payment system and method for allowing a fee to be settled using a smart card when the broadcast program being paid is paid. In addition, the present invention relates to a program rating management method using a smart card that enables the viewer to view a program that matches the rating using the smart card.

In addition to the existing terrestrial broadcasting, there are various broadcasting media such as satellite broadcasting and cable broadcasting. In satellite broadcasting and cable broadcasting, these paid channels are mainly operated. There is also a paid program that charges for each program within the same channel. There are many ways to settle the fee for these paid programs, but most of them have to go through a separate procedure with the server to settle the fee just before watching the paid program, or later charge the channel collectively. have. In the US and Europe, satellite broadcasting (eg, DirecTV, Chanal +) is currently using a smart card for descrambling & decryption and user management. In the case of the paid program as shown in the figure, information about the user's information and billing is settled through the satellite broadcasting receiver, that is, the modem 12 installed in the set-top box system 10 just before watching the program. He takes the form of giving and receiving payments later. In this case, a session with the billing server 14 through the modem 12 has to be established, and there is a disadvantage in that an additional cost is generated by collecting such information and sending a new bill. In addition, when the user accesses the billing server 14 through the modem 12 as described above, private information such as what kind of paid programs the user has seen and how much paid programs have been viewed is provided by the server 12 via the server 14. ), It can be cut off in the middle, and there is a problem that private information is stored on the server and leaked to the outside.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to charge the billing method using a smart card to be able to perform the payment immediately by using the smart card when watching the program without additional procedure of connecting to the server online when the euro program watching and sending and receiving information about the fee And to provide a system.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a program rating management method using a smart card that stores and manages the rating information for each user in the smart card to efficiently use the rating information already included and transmitted in the program.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a smart card that can increase the efficiency of smart card use by including a prepaid card function for viewing fee settlement and an additional data structure for program rating management.

1 is a block diagram showing a conventional pay-TV viewing fee settlement system.

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing a pay-TV viewing fee settlement system using a smart card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for setting a fee when viewing a paid program using the fee settlement system of the present invention shown in FIG.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of managing a program grade using a smart card in the rate settlement system of the present invention shown in FIG.

5 is a diagram showing a data structure stored in a smart card according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Brief description of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10, 16: set-top box system 12, 18: modem

14: billing settlement server 20: smart card slot

22: smart card

In order to achieve the above objects, the pay-TV viewing fee settlement system using a smart card according to the present invention receives a smart card, and a broadcast program, and receives a smart card and the data and encryption key for the price information and authentication When a pay program is provided with a card slot for an interface, a broadcast receiver for calculating the amount of information of the smart card as much as the Euro program fee after mutual authentication with the smart card is provided.

Billing method using a smart card according to the present invention is a step of checking whether the smart card is inserted when watching a paid program, and if it is confirmed that the smart card is inserted in the step performs mutual authentication between the system and the smart card And if the mutual authentication is successful, calculating a fee using a smart card.

The method for managing a program grade using a smart card according to the present invention includes selecting a user from a user confirmation screen registered in a broadcast receiving system, accessing the user's rating information by authenticating the selected user, and broadcasting the accessed information. And setting the program viewing grade of the program, and controlling the display of the program by comparing the rating information with the set program viewing grade for the received program.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention in addition to the above object will become apparent from the description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5.

In the present invention, it is intended to configure a system that can settle the charges using a smart card already used in the satellite broadcast receiver. In other words, in the present invention, a paid program can be watched by including a prepaid card function for paying a paid program viewing fee in a smart card that stores the amount information such as a public telephone card, a bus card, a train card, etc. and uses the amount information for bill settlement. The system and smart card are configured so that the fee is automatically settled when the paid program is watched on a pre-purchased smart card instead of paying a certain amount of time by connecting to the server and sending and receiving rate and program information. . In addition, in digital broadcasting, a rating is given to each program to manage viewing of the program according to the rating, and the program rating can be managed using the smart card.

To this end, the billing system using a smart card according to the present invention is a set-top box system 16 equipped with a card slot (20) for the interface with the smart card 22 as shown in FIG. It is set as a configuration. The billing system of FIG. 2, i.e., the set-top box system 16, functions to receive digital broadcasting, cable broadcasting, digital satellite broadcasting, and the like, which may be replaced by a television set. In the set-top box system 16, the smart card 22 performs operations related to user information management and descrambling according to the functions of the smart card used in the conventional satellite broadcasting receiver, and at the time of paying program viewing, the smart card ( Through the procedure of requesting or confirming the insertion of 22), a software module for performing the function of calculating the amount of money information stored in the smart card 22 by the fee of the paid program is additionally provided. Here, the pay program includes terrestrial broadcasting, cable broadcasting, and satellite broadcasting. In addition to the software module that performs the billing function as described above, the set-top box system 16 reads viewer rating information for each received program and compares the rating information with the rating for each user to control the program display. The module is further provided. In this case, the software module for program rating management reads the program rating criteria table from the received broadcast signal and temporarily stores it in the system. In the smart card 22, data and encryption keys for fee information and authentication, and rating information data and encryption keys for each user are appropriately configured.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of paying a fee when viewing a paid program using the billing system of the present invention shown in FIG. 2.

When a viewer watches a program operated by paying while watching a program provided by terrestrial broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, or cable broadcasting, a content indicating that the program is paid and how much it costs is displayed first. . If the viewer decides to watch the paid program in step 2 (S2), in step 4 (S4), the set-top box system 16 checks whether the smart card 22 is inserted, and if not, in step 6 (S6). ), The smart card 22 is inserted into the card slot 20. When the smart card 22 is inserted in steps 4 (S4) and 6 (S6), the process proceeds to step 8 (S8) to perform mutual authentication between the system 16 and the smart card 22. . This mutual authentication procedure consists of internal authentication for authenticating the card 22 to the system 16 and external authentication for authenticating the authenticity of the system 16. In this case, a number of encryption algorithms may be applied to the mutual authentication procedure. Basically, when a symmetric encryption algorithm such as DES (Data Encryption Standard) is applied, the same encryption key and algorithm are used between the system 16 and the smart card 22. Should be Here, if mutual authentication fails, an error message is displayed, and the process returns to step 2 (S4) and starts again from the beginning. On the other hand, if the mutual authentication is successful, the process proceeds to step 10 (S10) and the system 16 checks the balance information of the smart card 22 and compares with the fee of the paid program to be watched now. If the balance of the smart card 22 is more than the paid program fee, proceed to the charge settlement process in step 14 (S14) to deduct the amount of the amount from the balance of the smart card 22 and the balance information again the smart card (22) ). On the other hand, if the balance of the smart card is less than the fee of the paid program, in step 12 (S12), because the balance is insufficient, a message to display after using (adding) the amount is displayed and returns to step 2 (S2). .

4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of managing a program grade using a smart card in the rate settlement system of the present invention shown in FIG.

When the set-top box system is turned on in step 20 (S20), a user confirmation screen is displayed in step 22 (S22) to list user information registered for using the set-top box system. If the user selects himself or herself from the registered user list screen, the registration procedure can be performed. If a user is selected, in step 24 (S24) a message prompting the user to enter the password is displayed to confirm that the user is correct. If the correct password for the registered user is not entered, the password is not correct and the user is prompted to enter again. If a message appears and the correct password is input and the user is authenticated, the process proceeds to the next step 26 (S26). The smart card 22 has a different password or key for each user, and the user's rating information stored in the smart card 22 can also be read only when the value entered by the user matches this value. The smart card 22 has a file for storing information for each user, and the password and rating information are stored in the set-top box system 16 by reading the rating information from the user-specific information storage file after the user authentication is stored. It is set to the level applied when the current viewing (S26). Then, the program grade information is read for each program received in step 28 (S28), and the display is controlled according to the grade currently set in the set-top box system 16.

5 shows a data structure stored in a smart card according to an embodiment of the present invention. The smart card 22 of FIG. 5 should have a data structure suitable therein for the above-described fee settlement (prepaid card function) and program grade management. For the structure, operation method and command of smart card, refer to ISO7816, an international standard. According to the ISO7816 standard, the smart card 22 can create a dedicated file (hereinafter referred to as DF), and under this DF, a DF or elementary file (hereinafter referred to as EF) can be created. Can be generated. A new file cannot be created under EF, so user information (viewing grade information) or password is stored in the file. Looking at the overall structure of the smart card, existing functions (user information related to the descrambling key, etc.) are stored in the basic DF and maintained as they are, and additionally provided with a DF for prepaid card function and a grade management DF. Under the prepaid DF, there are two key files (Int_key and Ext_key) for mutual authentication between the system and the card. When mutual authentication is performed using these two key files (Int_key, Ext_key), the fee settlement procedure is performed by accessing the EF file in which the price information is stored, and the balance information is stored in the price information EF again. Under the DF for rating management, DF files (User # 1 DF, User # 2 DF, etc.) are composed for each registered user to store the grade information and password in the EF format. Therefore, when the password entered by the user is the same as the password stored in this DF (User # 1 DF, User # 2 DF, etc.), the rating information is accessed to set the rating information as the audience rating of the system. Here, the algorithm applied in relation to mutual authentication and password is not defined as specific.

As described above, the present invention connects to a server for billing through a modem installed in a set-top box system for billing when watching a Euro program in a situation in which digital broadcasting such as terrestrial broadcasting, satellite broadcasting, and cable broadcasting is in full swing. The prepaid card function is included in the smart card that is being used or used much in the future without the hassle of sending and receiving, so that the user can pay for the amount required in advance so that the fee can be settled immediately without accessing the server when watching paid programs. do. In this case, when accessing the server through the modem, private information such as which paid programs the user has seen and how many paid programs are viewed is transmitted to the server via the modem, which may be intercepted and private information. There is a problem that is stored in the server and leaked to the outside, but if you use the prepaid card function in the smart card, there is no server connection process, so there is no fear that private information about the user is leaked to the outside.

In addition, the rating information for the program is essential when digital broadcasting starts in the future, and is an American Television Standard for Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) A / 65 "Program and System Information Protocol for Terrestrial Broadcast and Cable" standard. In addition, it basically stipulates to include program rating information. Therefore, whether the program follows the US digital broadcasting standard or the European standard, the rating information of the program is basically included. As a way to use the rating information, the user-specific rating information is stored in the smart card so that a user can broadcast it. Depending on whether you watch the rating information for the user can be easily retrieved from the smart card and applied.

As described above, according to the system and method for paying broadcast rates using the smart card according to the present invention, the user pays for the amount of money required by the user in advance to purchase the smart card including the prepaid card function. Billing is done immediately without accessing the server. In this case, there is no need for a connection with a billing server through a modem for billing, so that private information of the user may not be leaked to the outside. In addition, according to the program rating management method using a smart card according to the present invention by storing the user-specific rating information in the smart card according to which user is watching the broadcast, it is easy to retrieve and apply the rating information for the user from the smart card It becomes possible.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification but should be defined by the claims.

Claims (5)

Smart card that stores the data and encryption key for the amount information and authentication, A broadcast receiver which receives a broadcast program and has a card slot for interfacing with the smart card to pay for the paid program through mutual authentication with the smart card and settles the amount information of the smart card as much as the euro program fee. Paid broadcasting viewing fee settlement system using a smart card characterized in that it comprises a. The method of claim 1, The smart card further stores data and encryption key for program rating information for each user. And the broadcast receiver compares the rating information of the received program with the program rating information for each user stored in the smart card to control the display of the program. In the rate settlement method of the rate settlement system using a smart card, Checking whether a smart card is inserted when watching a paid program, Performing mutual authentication between the system and the smart card when the smart card is inserted in the step; If the mutual authentication is successful, the billing method for paying TV viewing fee using a smart card, characterized in that it comprises the step of calculating the fee using the smart card. The method of claim 3, wherein Settling the fee Checking the balance information of the smart card and comparing it with the fee of the currently paid program to be watched; If the balance of the smart card is greater than the paid program fee, subtracting the amount of the program fee from the balance of the smart card and recording the balance information again on the smart card; If the balance of the smart card is less than the fee of the pay program, the method for calculating the pay-TV viewing fee using a smart card, comprising the step of displaying and returning a message to use after adding the amount. In the program rating management method of the broadcast receiving system using a smart card, Selecting a user from a user confirmation screen registered in the broadcast receiving system; Authenticating the selected user to access rating information of the user and setting the accessed information as a program viewing rating of the broadcast receiving system; And controlling the display of the program by comparing the rating information and the set program viewing rating with respect to the received program.