Method, apparatus and computer program for processing multimedia data signals

• US 20050047404A1
• Filed: 08/20/2004
• Published: 03/03/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Kim, Tae-Su, Lee, Jung-Sook, Noh, Mi-Jung, Kim, Seo-Kyu, Kim, Hyun-Min
• Granted Patent: US 7,836,514 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/382
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/28 Arrangements for simultaneous broadcast of plural pieces of information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/18 on copying information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/23 using cryptography, e.g. encryption, authentication, key distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/764 at the destination reformatting of additional data in video clients H04N21/4355
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2541 Rights Management protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10; security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4181 for conditional access
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/434 Disassembling of a multiplex stream, e.g. demultiplexing audio and video streams, extraction of additional data from a video stream; Remultiplexing of multiplex streams; Extraction or processing of SI; Disassembling of packetised elementary stream demultiplexing of data packets for data networks, e.g. RTP/UDP H04L65/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43632 involving a wired protocol, e.g. IEEE 1394 high-speed IEEE 1394 serial bus H04L12/40052
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4405 involving video stream decryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4623 Processing of entitlement messages, e.g. ECM [Entitlement Control Message] or EMM [Entitlement Management Message] arrangements for conditional access to broadcast information or to broadcast-related services H04H60/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/835 Generation of protective data, e.g. certificates protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 5/76 Television signal recording
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

An apparatus, method and a computer program for processing multimedia data is described, where the apparatus may include an input switch which may receive a plurality of transport stream packets corresponding to a plurality of digital multimedia data signals input thereto, and a packet identification (PID) filter unit which may selectively output a given set of TS packets to be demultiplexed from the received plurality of TS packets. A buffer and/or an external memory device may store at least some of the TS packets of the output given set. A conditional access/content protection (CA/CP) unit may read and decrypt the TS packets stored in the buffer, and may encrypt at least some of the decrypted TS packets for storage in the external memory device if the buffer becomes full, to prevent the TS packets to be stored in the external memory device from being copied.

Claims

1. An apparatus for processing multimedia data, comprising:

a transport stream (TS) input switch unit configured to receive a plurality of TS packets corresponding to a plurality of digital multimedia data signals;

a packet identification (PID) filter unit configured to receive the plurality of TS packets from the TS input switch, and to selectively output a given set of TS packets to be demultiplexed from the received plurality of TS packets;

a first TS buffer configured to sequentially store TS packets of the output given set;

an external memory device configured to store at least some of the TS packets of the output given set; and

a conditional access/content protection (CA/CP) unit configured to read and to decrypt the TS packets stored in the first TS buffer, and to encrypt at least some of the decrypted TS packets for storage in the external memory device if the first TS buffer becomes full, so as to prevent the decrypted TS packets to be stored in the external memory device from being copied.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a second TS buffer configured to sequentially store TS packets received from the CA/CP unit; and

a micro-processing unit (MPU) configured to sequentially read the TS packets stored in the second TS buffer, and to demultiplex the stored TS packets.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a memory interface unit operatively connected to the external memory device via an external system bus, wherein when the first TS buffer is full, a portion of the TS packets selected for output from the PID filter unit is stored, after encryption by the CA/CP unit, in the external memory device via the memory interface unit and the external system bus, in preparation for a read back process.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising:

a program stream (PS) sector parser configured to abstract a sector header from a PS of a digital versatile disk (DVD) input through the memory interface, and to output the sector header to the CA/CP unit.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising:

a personal video recording (PVR) write interface unit configured to receive a TS packet for PVR scrambled by the CA/CP unit, to pack the TS packet with a time stamp, and to output the packed TS packet via the memory interface unit;

a program specific information (PSI) buffer configured to insert PSI of a single program into the TS packet for PVR when writing PVR; and

.

a PVR read interface unit configured to receive the TS packet for PVR via the memory interface unit, and to control a reading speed using the time stamp information packed with the TS packet.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the memory interface unit includes a plurality of write direct memory accesses (DMAs) and a plurality of read DMAs.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

a program clock reference (PCR) recovery unit configured to store PCR data abstracted from the PID filter unit and to control a system timer clock (STC) with the PCR data.

8. In an apparatus for processing multimedia data having at least a first memory and in communication with an external second memory, the first and second memories configured for storing a plurality of transport stream (TS) packets representing corresponding multimedia data signals, a conditional access/content protection (CA/CP) unit that is configured to read and decrypt TS packets stored in the first memory, and to encrypt at least some of the decrypted TS packets for storage in the second memory if the first memory becomes full, so as to prevent the decrypted TS packets to be stored in the second memory from being copied.

9. A method for processing multimedia data in an apparatus configured for receiving and recording a plurality of multimedia data signal, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of encrypted TS packets corresponding to a plurality of digital multimedia data signals;

filtering the received plurality of TS packet to selectively output a given set of TS packets to be demultiplexed;

sequentially storing TS packets of the output given set in a first buffer of the apparatus;

simultaneously reading and decrypting the TS packets stored in the first buffer; and

encrypting at least some of the decrypted TS packets in preparation for storing the encrypted packets in an external memory in communication with the apparatus, if the first buffer becomes full, so as to prevent the decrypted TS packets to be stored in the external memory from being copied.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

sequentially storing decrypted TS packets in a second buffer; and

sequentially reading the TS packets stored in the second buffer in preparation for demultiplexing the stored TS packets.

19. A program, adapted to cause a computer to execute the method of claim 9.

23. A computer-readable storage medium, on which is recorded a program adapted to cause a computer to execute the method of claim 9.

31. An apparatus for processing multimedia data, the apparatus configured for processing multimedia data in accordance with the method of claim 9.

11. A method for preventing copying of multimedia data signals that are to be recorded in an external recording medium in operative communication with an apparatus for processing multimedia data, comprising:

decrypting a received plurality of encrypted transport stream (TS) packets representing one or more input multimedia data signals for storage in a buffer until the buffer is full,

encrypting at least some of the decrypted TS packets that cannot be stored in the buffer, and

storing the encrypted TS packets in an external memory for recording in the external recording medium.

20. A program, adapted to cause a computer to execute the method of claim 11.

24. A computer-readable storage medium, on which is recorded a program adapted to cause a computer to execute the method of claim 11.

32. An apparatus for processing multimedia data, the apparatus configured for preventing copying of multimedia data signals that are to be recorded in an external recording medium in operative communication with the apparatus, in accordance with the method of claim 11.

12. A method for allocating multimedia data signals, comprising:

storing a plurality of transport stream (TS) packets representing one or more received multimedia data signals to be displayed or recorded in a first memory of an apparatus configured to process the signals until the first memory is full; and

storing any additional or overflow TS packets in a second memory external to the apparatus to reduce a possibility of lost data in the apparatus.

21. A program, adapted to cause a computer to execute the method of claim 12.

25. A computer-readable storage medium, on which is recorded a program adapted to cause a computer to execute the method of claim 12.

33. An apparatus for processing multimedia data, the apparatus configured for allocating multimedia data signals in accordance with the method of claim 12.

13. A method of reducing communication overhead in an apparatus configured to process multimedia data signals, comprising:

apportioning read and write operations for accessing multimedia data signals within a given external memory in operative communication with the apparatus so as to avoid directly selecting an input/output (IO) device when multimedia data is to be recorded.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein apportioning includes:

allocating a first given set of memory fields of the external memory for read operations related to the multimedia data signals, and

allocating a second set of memory fields in the memory for write operations related to the multimedia data signals.

22. A program, adapted to cause a computer to execute the method of claim 13.

26. A computer-readable storage medium, on which is recorded a program adapted to cause a computer to execute the method of claim 13.

34. An apparatus for processing multimedia data, the apparatus configured for reducing communication overhead therein in accordance with the method of claim 13.

15. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having computer program logic stored thereon for enabling a processor to process multimedia data in an apparatus configured to receive and record the multimedia data, the computer program logic causing the processor to perform the functions of:

receiving a plurality of encrypted TS packets corresponding to a plurality of digital multimedia data signals input to the apparatus;

filtering the received plurality of TS packet to selectively output a given set of TS packets to be demultiplexed;

sequentially storing TS packets of the given set that are selected for output in a first buffer of the apparatus;

simultaneously reading and decrypting the TS packets stored in the first buffer; and

encrypting at least some of the decrypted TS packets in preparation for storing the encrypted packets in an external memory in communication with the apparatus, if the first buffer becomes full, so as to prevent the decrypted TS packets to be stored in the external memory from being copied.

16. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having computer program logic stored thereon for enabling a processor to prevent copying of multimedia data signals input to an apparatus for processing multimedia data signals and which are to be recorded in an external recording medium in operative communication with the apparatus, the computer program logic causing the processor to perform the functions of:

decrypting a received plurality of encrypted transport stream (TS) packets representing one or more input multimedia data signals for storage in a buffer until the buffer is full,

encrypting at least some of the decrypted TS packets that cannot be stored in the buffer, and

storing the encrypted TS packets in an external memory for recording in the external recording medium.

17. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having computer program logic stored thereon for enabling a processor to allocate multimedia data signals within an apparatus configured to process the signals, the computer program logic causing the processor to perform the functions of:

storing a plurality of transport stream (TS) packets representing one or more received multimedia data signals to be displayed or recorded in a first memory of the apparatus until the first memory is full; and

storing any additional or overflow TS packets in a second memory external to the apparatus to reduce a possibility of lost data in the apparatus.

18. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable medium having computer program logic stored thereon for enabling a processor to reduce communication overhead in an apparatus configured to process a plurality of multimedia data signals, the computer program logic causing the processor to perform the functions of:

apportioning read and write operations for accessing multimedia data signals within a given external memory in operative communication with the apparatus so as to avoid directly selecting an input/output (IO) apparatus when multimedia data is to be recorded.

27. A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave, the computer data signal adapted for processing multimedia data in an apparatus configured to receive and record the multimedia data, the computer data signal comprising:

instructions for receiving a plurality of encrypted TS packets corresponding to a plurality of digital multimedia data signals input to the apparatus;

instructions for filtering the received plurality of TS packet to selectively output a given set of TS packets to be demultiplexed;

instructions for sequentially storing TS packets of the given set that are selected for output in a first buffer of the apparatus;

instructions for simultaneously reading and decrypting the TS packets stored in the first buffer; and

instructions for encrypting at least some of the decrypted TS packets in preparation for storing the encrypted packets in an external memory in communication with the apparatus, if the first buffer becomes full, so as to prevent the decrypted TS packets to be stored in the external memory from being copied.

28. A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave, the computer data signal adapted for preventing copying of multimedia data signals input to an apparatus for processing multimedia data signals and which are to be recorded in an external recording medium in operative communication with the apparatus, the computer data signal comprising:

instructions for decrypting a received plurality of encrypted transport stream (TS) packets representing one or more input multimedia data signals for storage in a buffer until the buffer is full,

instructions for encrypting at least some of the decrypted TS packets that cannot be stored in the buffer, and

instructions for storing the encrypted TS packets in an external memory for recording in the external recording medium.

29. A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave, the computer data signal adapted for allocating multimedia data signals within an apparatus configured to process the signals, the computer data signal comprising:

instructions for storing a plurality of transport stream (TS) packets representing one or more received multimedia data signals to be displayed or recorded in a first memory of the apparatus until the first memory is full; and

instructions for storing any additional or overflow TS packets in a second memory external to the apparatus to reduce a possibility of lost data in the apparatus.

30. A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave, the computer data signal adapted for reducing communication overhead in an apparatus configured to process a plurality of multimedia data signals, the computer data signal comprising:

instructions for apportioning read and write operations for accessing multimedia data signals within a given external memory in operative communication with the apparatus so as to avoid directly selecting an input/output (IO) apparatus when multimedia data is to be recorded.