SECURE CACHED SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE

• US 20030050991A1
• Filed: 10/29/1999
• Published: 03/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: KISOR, GREGORY, TOWELL, TIMOTHY N.
• Granted Patent: US 6,647,411 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/213
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/2885 Hierarchically arranged intermediate devices, e.g. for hierarchical caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/5681 Pre-fetching or pre-delivering data based on network characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23106 involving caching operations prefetching while addressing of a memory level in which the access to the desired data or data block requires associative addressing means within memory systems or architectures G06F12/0862; caching at an intermediate stage in a data network H04L67/568
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25875 involving end-user authentication restricting access to computer systems by authenticating users using a predetermined code G06F21/33; arrangements for secret or secure communication including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system H04L9/32; networks authentication protocols H04L63/08; authentication in wireless network security H04W12/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25891 being end-user preferences retrieval of video data in a video database based on user preferences G06F16/739; arrangements for recognizing users' preferences H04H60/46; user profiles in network data switching protocols H04L67/306; processing of user preferences or user profiles in wireless networks H04W8/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26241 involving the time of distribution, e.g. the best time of the day for inserting an advertisement or airing a children program
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2747 Remote storage of video programs received via the downstream path, e.g. from the server
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4331 Caching operations, e.g. of an advertisement for later insertion during playback
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44204 Monitoring of content usage, e.g. the number of times a movie has been viewed, copied or the amount which has been watched monitoring of user activities for profile generation for accessing a video database G06F16/739; protecting generic digital content where the protection is independent of the precise nature of the content G06F21/10; arrangements for monitoring the use made of the broadcast services in broadcast systems H04H60/31
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44224 Monitoring of user activity on external systems, e.g. Internet browsing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6582 Data stored in the client, e.g. viewing habits, hardware capabilities, credit card number arrangements where receivers interact with the broadcast H04H20/38
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/17318 Direct or substantially direct transmission and handling of requests

Abstract

A system and method for a secure cached subscription system is described. In one embodiment, the system comprises a content provider and a caching device connected to the content provider. The content provider speculatively downloads information into the caching device based upon a user'"'"'s data. A processing device is connected via a high-bandwidth connection to the caching device for processing the information.

Claims

1. A secure cached subscription system comprising:

at least one content provider;

at least one caching device connected to the at least one content provider for receiving information from the at least one content provider, wherein the at least one content provider speculatively downloads the information into the caching device based upon user data; and

at least one processing device connected via a high-bandwidth connection to the at least one caching device for processing the information.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the user data is a user profile.

3. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a decoding device for decoding the information before processing the information.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein the decoding device is a set-top box.

5. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one caching device comprises:

a content cache for storing the information; and

a decoder for decoding the information in the content cache prior to processing by the processing device.

6. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

at least one secondary caching device connected to the at least one caching device for receiving information from the at least one caching device, wherein the at least one secondary caching device receives information from the at least one caching device based upon user data.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the at least one secondary caching device is connected via a high-bandwidth connection to the processing device.

8. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one caching device comprises:

a content cache for storing the information.

9. The system of claim 5 wherein the at least one caching device comprises:

a decoder for decoding the information.

10. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one processing device comprises:

a decoder for decoding the information before processing.

11. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one caching device is remotely connected to the at least one content provider.

12. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one caching device receives information from the at least one content provider during off-peak hours.

13. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one caching device receives information from the at least one content provider on a separate channel.

14. The system of claim 1 wherein the at least one content provider comprises a profiler configured to maintain user preference information.

15. The system of claim 14 further comprising a subscription manager configured to update the profiler with user preference information.

16. The system of claim 1 further comprising an authentification manager configured to control access to the information.

17. A secure cached subscription system comprising:

at least one content provider;

at least one caching device connected to the at least one content provider for receiving information from the at least one content provider, wherein the information is speculatively stored in a content cache;

at least one decoding device connected to the at least one caching device for decoding the information; and

at least one processing device connected via a high-bandwidth connection to the at least one decoding device for processing the information.

18. The system of claim 17 further comprising:

a profiler connected to the at least one content provider configured to maintain user preference information;

a subscription manager configured to update the profiler with current user preference information; and

an authentification manager configured to control access to the information.

19. method for providing a secure cached subscription system, comprising:

providing at least one caching device connected to at least one content provider;

speculatively downloading information from the at least one content provider into the at least one caching device; and

transferring the information from the at least one caching device to at least one processing device.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising:

decoding the information after speculatively downloading the information into the at least one caching device.

21. The method of claim 19 further comprising:

authenticating access to the information.

22. The method of claim 19 wherein the information is speculatively downloaded from the at least one content provider based upon user data.

23. The method of claim 19 wherein the information is speculatively downloaded from the at least one content provider based upon a user profile.

24. The method of claim 19 wherein the at least one caching device is remotely connected to the at least one content provider.

25. The method of claim 19 wherein speculatively downloading information from the at least one content provider is done during off-peak hours.

26. The method of claim 19 wherein speculatively downloading information from the at least one content provider is done on a separate channel.

27. The method of claim 19 further comprising decoding the information before processing the information.

28. The method of claim 27 further comprising:

accumulating billing information during decoding of the information; and

transferring the billing information to the at least one content provider.

29. A system for providing a secure cached subscription system, comprising:

means for providing at least one caching device connected to at least one content provider;

means for speculatively downloading information from the at least one content provider into the at least one caching device; and

means for transferring the information from the at least one caching device to at least one processing device.

30. An article of manufacture having one or more computer-readable media with executable instructions therein, which when executed by a processing device, causes the processing device to:

provide at least one caching device connected to at least one content provider;

speculatively download information from the at least one content provider into the at least one caching device; and

transfer the information from the at least one caching device to at least one processing device.