Content transmission apparatus, content reception apparatus and content transmission method

• US 20050160265A1
• Filed: 05/17/2004
• Published: 07/21/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Maxell, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Tanaka, Mayuko, Okamoto, Hiroo, Kudo, Yoshimichi
• Granted Patent: US 8,010,792 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/168
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/603 Digital right managament [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0841 involving Diffie-Hellman or related key agreement protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3273 for mutual authentication network architectures or network communication protocols for achieving mutual authentication in a packet data network H04L63/0869

Abstract

A copyright of a content is protected by preventing creation of illegal copies of the content and the content is prevented from being transmitted beyond a range of personal use in a process to transmit the content through a LAN. Before transmission of a content, a content transmission apparatus and a content reception apparatus perform a determination of authentication information available in a predetermined command accompanying authentication information, or an authentication determination based on a time until reception of a response to a predetermined command request accompanying predetermined authentication information. If the authentication is unsuccessful, the requested content is not transmitted to the content reception apparatus. With such arrangement, it is possible to effectively protect a copyright when a content is transmitted by way of a network.

Claims

1. A content transmission apparatus comprising:

network communication process means for transmitting and receiving data by way of a network;

transmission-content generation means for supplying a content to be transmitted to a content reception apparatus, which is connected to said content transmission apparatus through said network, to said network communication process means;

authentication means for receiving an authentication request from said content reception apparatus to perform an authentication determination for said received authentication request and issuing own authentication request thereof to said content reception apparatus;

encryption means for generating a key based on information produced by said authentication means as a result of execution of an authentication process in said authentication means and encrypting a content to be transmitted to said content reception apparatus by using said key; and

timer means used for measuring a time interval between transmission of a predetermined command request to said content reception apparatus and reception of a response to be transmitted from said content reception apparatus responding to the transmission of said command request;

wherein, if a measurement value produced by said timer means exceeds a predetermined value at said timer means, transmission of the content to said content reception apparatus is not executed.

3. The content transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said timer means measures two or more times a time interval between transmission of a predetermined command request or a command request accompanying predetermined authentication information to said content reception apparatus and reception of a command from said content reception apparatus, and if a value obtained as a result of predetermined statistical processing exceeds a predetermined value, transmission of the content to said content reception apparatus is not executed.

2. A content transmission apparatus comprising:

network communication process means for transmitting and receiving data by way of a network;

transmission-content generation means for supplying a content to be transmitted to a content reception apparatus, which is connected to said content transmission apparatus through said network, to said network communication process means;

authentication means for receiving an authentication request from said content reception apparatus to perform an authentication determination for said received authentication request and issuing own authentication request thereof to said content reception apparatus;

encryption means for generating a key based on information produced by said authentication means as a result of execution of an authentication process in said authentication means and encrypting a content to be transmitted to said content reception apparatus by using said key; and

timer means used for measuring a time interval between transmission of a predetermined command request accompanying authentication information to said content reception apparatus and reception of a response to be transmitted from said content reception apparatus responding to transmission of said predetermined command request accompanying authentication information;

wherein, if said authentication means executes authentication determination of a response accompanying predetermined authentication information and the authentication is unsuccessful, or if a measurement value at said timer means exceeds a predetermined value, transmission of the content to said content reception apparatus is not executed.

4. A content reception apparatus comprising:

network communication process means for transmitting and receiving data by way of a network;

content-reception process means for receiving a content to be transmitted by a content transmission apparatus, which is connected to said content-reception process means through said network;

authentication means for receiving an authentication request from said content transmission apparatus to perform an authentication determination for said received authentication request and issuing own authentication request thereof to said content transmission apparatus;

decryption means for generating a key based on information produced by said authentication means as a result of execution of an authentication process in said authentication means and decrypting a content to be transmitted by said content transmission apparatus by using said key; and

timer means used for measuring a time interval between transmission of a predetermined command request to said content transmission apparatus and reception of a response to be transmitted from said content transmission apparatus responding to the transmission of said command request;

wherein, if a measurement value produced by said timer means exceeds a predetermined value at said timer means, reception of the content to be transmitted from said content transmission apparatus is not executed.

6. The content reception apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said timer means measures two or more times a time interval between a transmission of a predetermined command request or a predetermined command request accompanying authentication information to said content transmission apparatus and a reception of a command from said content transmission apparatus, and if a value obtained as a result of predetermined statistical processing exceeds a predetermined value, reception of the content to be transmitted from said content transmission apparatus is not executed.

5. A content reception apparatus comprising:

network communication process means for transmitting and receiving data by way of a network;

content-reception process means for receiving a content to be transmitted by a content transmission apparatus, which is connected to said content-reception process means through said network;

authentication means for receiving an authentication request from said content transmission apparatus to perform an authentication determination for said received authentication request and issuing own authentication request thereof to said content transmission apparatus;

decryption means for generating a key based on information produced by said authentication means as a result of execution of an authentication process in said authentication means and decrypting a content to be transmitted by said content transmission apparatus by using said key; and

timer means used for measuring a time interval between transmission of a predetermined command request accompanying authentication information to said content transmission apparatus and reception of a response to be transmitted from said content transmission apparatus responding to the transmission of said predetermined command request accompanying authentication information;

wherein, if said authentication means executes authentication determination of the response accompanying predetermined authentication information and the authentication is unsuccessful, or if a measurement value at said timer means exceeds a predetermined value, reception of the content to be transmitted from said content transmission apparatus is not executed.

7. A content transmission apparatus comprising:

authentication means, when a content is transmitted to a content reception apparatus connected to said content transmission apparatus through a network, for receiving an authentication request from said content reception apparatus to perform an authentication determination for said received authentication request and issuing own authentication request thereof to said content reception apparatus; and

timer means used for measuring a time interval between transmission of a predetermined command request to said content reception apparatus and reception of a response to be transmitted from said content reception apparatus responding to transmission of said predetermined command request;

wherein, if a measurement value produced by said timer means exceeds a predetermined value at said timer means, transmission of the content to said content reception apparatus is not executed.

8. A content reception apparatus comprising:

authentication means, when a content is transmitted a content transmission apparatus connected to said content reception apparatus through a network, for receiving an authentication request from said content transmission apparatus to perform an authentication determination for said received authentication request and issuing own authentication request thereof to said content transmission apparatus; and

timer means used for measuring a time interval between transmission of a predetermined command request to said content transmission apparatus and reception of a response to be transmitted from said content transmission apparatus responding to transmission of said command request;

wherein, if a measurement value produced by said timer means exceeds a predetermined value at said timer means, reception of the content to be transmitted from said content transmission apparatus is not executed.

9. A method for transmitting a content between a content transmission apparatus and a content reception apparatus which are connected to each other by way of a network,

said content transmission comprising:

network communication process means for transmitting and receiving data through said network;

transmission-content generation means for supplying a content to be transmitted to the content reception apparatus, to the network communication process means;

authentication means for receiving an authentication request from said content reception apparatus to perform an authentication determination for the received authentication request and issuing own authentication request thereof to said content reception apparatus;

encryption means for generating a key based on information produced by the authentication means as a result of execution of an authentication process in the authentication means and encrypting a content to be transmitted to the content reception apparatus by using the key; and

timer means used for measuring a time interval between transmission of a predetermined command request to said content reception apparatus and reception of a response from said content reception apparatus for the transmission of said command request; and

said content reception apparatus comprising;

network communication process means for transmitting and receiving data by way of the network;

content-reception process means for receiving a content to be received from the content transmission apparatus from said network communication process means;

authentication means for issuing and transmitting an authentication request to said content transmission apparatus, and carrying out an authentication determination for said authentication request received from said content transmission apparatus;

decryption means for generating a key based on information produced by said authentication means as a result of execution of an authentication process in said authentication means and decrypting the content received from said content transmission apparatus by using said key;

wherein, if a measurement value produced by said timer means of said content transmission apparatus exceeds a predetermined value at said timer means, transmission of the content from said content transmission apparatus is not executed.

10. A method for transmitting a content between a content transmission apparatus and a content reception apparatus which are connected to each other by way of a network,

said content transmission comprising:

network communication process means for transmitting and receiving data through said network;

transmission-content generation means for supplying a content to be transmitted to the content reception apparatus, to the network communication process means;

authentication means for receiving an authentication request from said content reception apparatus to perform an authentication determination for the received authentication request and issuing own authentication request thereof to said content reception apparatus;

encryption means for generating a key based on information produced by the authentication means as a result of execution of an authentication process in the authentication means and encrypting the content to be transmitted to the content reception apparatus by using the key; and

timer means used for measuring a time interval between transmission of a predetermined command request to said content reception apparatus and reception of a response from said content reception apparatus for the transmission of said command request; and

said content reception apparatus comprising;

network communication process means for transmitting and receiving data by way of a network;

content-reception process means for receiving a content to be received from a content transmission apparatus from said network communication process means;

authentication means for issuing and transmitting an authentication request to said content transmission apparatus, and carrying out an authentication determination for said authentication request received from said content transmission apparatus;

decryption means for generating a key based on information produced by said authentication means as a result of execution of an authentication process in said authentication means and decrypting the content received from said content transmission apparatus by using said key; and

timer means used for measuring a time interval between transmission of a predetermined command request accompanying authentication information to said content transmission apparatus and reception of a response to be transmitted from said content transmission apparatus responding to the transmission of said predetermined command request accompanying authentication information;

wherein, if a measurement value produced by said timer means of said content transmission apparatus exceeds a predetermined value at said timer means, or if the authorization means of said content transmission apparatus determines an authentication of a predetermined response accompanying authorization information and the authorization thereof is unsuccessful, transmission of the content from said content transmission apparatus to said content reception apparatus is not executed.

11. An information-processing apparatus comprising:

authentication means, when information is output to another information-processing apparatus connected to the information-processing apparatus through a network, for receiving an authentication request from said another information-processing apparatus to perform an authentication determination for said received authentication request and issuing own authentication request thereof to said another information-processing apparatus; and

time-interval measurement means used for measuring a time interval between an output of a predetermined command request to said another information processing apparatus and reception of a response to be output from said another information apparatus responding to the output of said command request;

wherein, if a measurement value at said time-interval measurement means exceeds a predetermined value, the information is not output to said another information-processing apparatus.