Streaming media authorization based on call signs

• US 10,257,556 B2
• Filed: 10/12/2017
• Issued: 04/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Goetz, Jeromey Russell, Park, Christopher Shingee, Gopalakrishnan, Varadarajan
• Primary Examiner(s): Pierorazio, Michael B.
• Application Number:
  US15/782,113
• Publication Number:
  US 20180035146A1
• Time in Patent Office: 544 Days
• Field of Search: 725 25
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/14 Arrangements for conditional access to broadcast information or to broadcast-related services
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/50 of broadcast or relay stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/51 of receiving stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/266 Channel or content management, e.g. generation and management of keys and entitlement messages in a conditional access system, merging a VOD unicast channel into a multicast channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4524 involving the geographical location of the client retrieval from the Internet by querying based on geographical locations G06F16/9537; systems specially adapted for using geographical information in broadcast systems H04H60/70; protocols in which the network application is adapted for the location of the user terminal in communication control or processing H04L67/52; services making use of the location of users or terminals in wireless networks H04W4/02; locating users or terminals in wireless networks H04W64/00

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for determining whether a client device is authorized to receive media content based at least in part on the call signs of broadcast stations that the client device is able to receive. A computing device receives a broadcast station identifier and a program identifier from a client computing device. The computing device determines that the client computing device is authorized to access media content identified by the program identifier based at least in part on the broadcast station identifier. Finally, the computing device streams the media content to the client computing device in response to determining that the client computing device is authorized to access the media content.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by at least one computing device, a request for content from a client computing device, the request comprising a broadcast station identifier of a broadcast station within range of the client computing device, a set of media access control (MAC) addresses, a broadcast definition indicator based at least in part on a definition format, and a program identifier;

identifying, by the at least one computing device, a program record associated with the content, the program record comprising location restriction metadata associated with the content;

determining, by the at least one computing device, that client computing device is authorized to access the content based at least in part on the location restriction metadata and at least one of the broadcast station identifier, the set of MAC addresses, the broadcast definition indicator, or the program identifier;

converting, by the at least one computing device, the content to a format to be streamed to the client computing device in response to determining that the client computing device is authorized to access the content; and

streaming, by the at least one computing device, the content to the client computing device in response to determining that the client computing device is authorized to access the content.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the client computing device is authorized to access the content comprises:

identifying, by the at least one computing device, a restricted area for the content with reference to the location restriction metadata; and

determining, by the at least one computing device, that a location of the client computing device falls outside the restricted area.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the at least one computing device, a broadcast area for the content based at least in part on the broadcast station identifier; and

determining, by the at least one computing device, that the client computing device is authorized to access the content based at least in part on the location restriction metadata and the broadcast area for the content.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the at least one computing device, a location of the client computing device based at least in part on a MAC address of a wireless network in range of the client computing device being included in the set of MAC addresses; and

determining, by the at least one computing device, whether the client computing device is authorized to access the content based at least in part on the location restriction metadata and the MAC address of the wireless network being included in the set of MAC addresses.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the request for content further comprises global positioning system (GPS) coordinates; and

the method further comprises determining, by the at least one computing device, that the client computing device is authorized to access the content based at least in part on the GPS coordinates.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

accessing, by the at least one computing device, a list of broadcast station identifiers associated with the content in the program record; and

determining, by the at least one computing device, that the broadcast station identifier is included within the list of broadcast station identifiers.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the at least one computing device, that a broadcast signal received by the client computing device comprises a standard definition signal or a high-definition signal based at least in part on the broadcast definition indicator, wherein;

converting the content comprises converting, by the at least one computing device, the content to either a first resolution format or a second resolution format, respectively, based at least in part on the broadcast signal, the broadcast signal comprising the standard definition signal or the high-definition signal based on the broadcast definition indicator.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending, by the at least one computing device, an error message to the client computing device in response to determining that the client computing device is not authorized to access the content.

9. A system, comprising:

at least one computing device comprising a processor and a memory; and

machine readable instructions stored in the memory that, when executed by the processor, cause the at least one computing device to at least;

receive a request for content from a client computing device, the request comprising a broadcast station identifier of a broadcast station within range of the client computing device, a set of media access control (MAC) addresses, a broadcast definition indicator based at least in part on a definition format, and a program identifier;

identify a program record associated with the content, the program record comprising location restriction metadata associated with the content;

determine that the client computing device is authorized to access the content based at least in part on the location restriction metadata and at least one of the broadcast station identifier, the set of MAC addresses, the broadcast definition indicator, or the program identifier;

convert the content to a format to be streamed to the client computing device in response to determining that the client computing device is authorized to access the content; and

stream the content to the client computing device in response to determining that the client computing device is authorized to access the content.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the at least one computing device to at least:

identify a restricted area for the content with reference to the location restriction metadata; and

determine that a location of the client computing device falls outside the restricted area.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the at least one computing device to at least:

determine a broadcast area for the content based at least in part on the broadcast station identifier; and

determine that the client computing device is authorized to access the content based at least in part on the location restriction metadata and the broadcast area for the content.

12. The system of claim 9,

wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the at least one computing device to at least:

determine a location of the client computing device based at least in part on a MAC address of a wireless network in range of the client computing device that is included in the set of MAC addresses; and

determine that the client computing device is authorized to access the content based at least in part on the location restriction metadata and MAC address of the wireless network being included in the set of MAC addresses.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein:

the request for content further comprises global positioning system (GPS) coordinates; and

the machine readable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the at least one computing device to at least determine that the client computing device is authorized to access the content based at least in part on the GPS coordinates.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the at least one computing device to at least:

access a list of broadcast station identifiers associated with the content in the program record; and

determine that the broadcast station identifier is included within the list of broadcast station identifiers.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the at least one computing device to at least:

determine that a broadcast signal received by the client computing device comprises a standard definition signal or a high-definition signal based at least in part on the broadcast definition indicator; and

convert the content to either a first resolution format or a second resolution format, respectively, based at least in part on whether the broadcast signal comprises the standard definition signal or the high-definition signal based on the broadcast definition indicator.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the machine readable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the at least one computing device to at least send an error message to the client computing device in response to determining that the client computing device is not authorized to access the content.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying a program executable in at least one computing device, the program comprising machine readable instructions that, when executed, configure the at least one computing device to at least:

receive a request for content from a client computing device, the request comprising a broadcast station identifier of a broadcast station within range of the client computing device, a set of media access control (MAC) addresses, a broadcast definition indicator based at least in part on a definition format, and a program identifier;

identify a program record associated with the content, the program record comprising location restriction metadata associated with the content;

determine that the client computing device is authorized to access the content based at least in part on the location restriction metadata and at least one of the broadcast station identifier, the set of MAC addresses, the broadcast definition indicator, or the program identifier;

convert the content to a format to be streamed to the client computing device in response to determining that the client computing device is authorized to access the content; and

stream the content to the client computing device in response to determining that the client computing device is authorized to access the content.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to:

identify a restricted area for the content with reference to the location restriction metadata; and

determine that a location of the client computing device falls outside the restricted area.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17,

wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to:

determine a location of the client computing device based at least in part on a MAC address of a wireless network in range of the client computing device that is included in the set of MAC addresses; and

determine that the client computing device is authorized to access the content based at least in part on the location restriction metadata and the location of the client computing device.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the at least one computing device is further configured to:

determine that a broadcast signal received by the client computing device comprises a standard definition signal or a high-definition signal based at least in part on the broadcast definition indicator; and

convert the content to either a first resolution format or a second resolution format, respectively, based at least in part on whether the broadcast signal comprises the standard definition signal or the high-definition signal based on the broadcast definition indicator.