Information network system and information apparatus

• US 20060222177A1
• Filed: 03/31/2006
• Published: 10/05/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Semiconductor Solutions Co., Ltd. (Winbond Electronics Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Iwamoto, Kiyotaka, Nagata, Tomomi
• Granted Patent: US 7,814,555 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 380/200
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4135 external recorder interface circuits between an apparatus for recording television signals and a television receiver H04N5/775
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4147 PVR [Personal Video Recorder] H04N5/76 takes precedence ; arrangements for broadcast with accumulation-type receivers H04H20/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4334 Recording operations recording of a television signal H04N5/76; arrangements for recording or accumulating broadcast information or broadcast-related information H04H60/27
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43622 Interfacing an external recording device
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4367 Establishing a secure communication between the client and a peripheral device or smart card
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4405 involving video stream decryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4408 involving video stream encryption, e.g. re-encrypting a decrypted video stream for redistribution in a home network
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/1675 Providing digital key or authorisation information for generation or regeneration of the scrambling sequence pseudo-random number generators in general G06F7/58

Abstract

Upon receiving an input of a request to move data to an external recording medium, a first information apparatus: transfers to record contents data after performing conversion under compression; encrypts the contents data and stores it in a concealment area of an internal recording medium; transfers to record the contents management information containing key information to the external recording medium; and deletes the encryption key. A second information apparatus: obtains the contents management information from the external recording medium and searches the network; obtains the encrypted contents data from the first information apparatus that holds the contents data concerned; and decrypts the encrypted contents data by using the encryption key contained in the contents management information.

Claims

1. An information network system, comprising a first information apparatus and a second information apparatus, wherein

the first information apparatus and the second information apparatus comprise, respectively:

an internal recording medium for storing contents data;

an interface which transfers and records data on the contents data recorded in the internal recording medium to an external recording medium which is connected in a freely attachable or removable state to the information apparatus respectively; and

a transmission/reception unit for connecting the information apparatus to a network, wherein

the internal recording medium comprises an area for storing the contents data and a concealment area for storing various kinds of data with limited accessibility, and

the first information apparatus;

upon receiving a request to move the contents data to the external recording medium while the external recording medium is being connected to the first information apparatus, reads out the contents data as movement target from the internal recording medium and transfers to record it to the external recording medium after performing compression-conversion;

encrypts the contents data as movement target by using an encryption key to be stored in the concealment area of the internal recording medium;

transfers to record contents management information that contains key information relative to the encryption key in the concealment area of the internal recording medium; and

then deletes the key information relative to the encryption key, and

the second information apparatus;

when the external recording medium that holds compression-converted the contents data is connected to the second information apparatus, obtains the contents management information from the external recording medium and searches the network by using obtained the contents management information to find out the first information apparatus that holds encrypted the contents data corresponding to the contents management information;

obtains, through the network, the encrypted contents data from the first information apparatus that is being found; and

decrypts the encrypted contents data obtained by using the encryption key contained in the contents management information.

2. The information network system according to claim 1, wherein, the first information recording medium, upon receiving a request to move the contents data to the external recording medium, performs mutual authentication between the external recording medium, and performs operations of claim 1 only when the authentication succeeds.

3. The information network system according to claim 2, wherein, the second information apparatus:

finds out the first information apparatus that holds the encrypted contents data on the network;

performs mutual authentication between the first information apparatus being found; and

performs operations of claim 1 only when the authentication succeeds.

4. The information network system according to claim 3, wherein, when the mutual authentication between the external recording medium is failed, the first information apparatus transfers to record the contents data under compression conversion to the external recording medium without encrypting and storing the contents data to the concealment area.

5. The information network system according to claim 4, wherein, when the mutual authentication between the first information apparatus being found is failed, the second information apparatus reads out compression-converted the contents data stored in the external recording medium and stores it to the internal recording medium of the second information apparatus without obtaining the encrypted contents data from the first information apparatus being found.

6. The information network system according to claim 1, wherein, for encrypting the contents data, the first information apparatus generates the key information relative to the encryption key in advance, and encrypts the contents data by using the generated encryption key of the key information.

7. The information network system according to claim 1, wherein the contents management information contains, in addition to the key information relative to the encryption key, title information relative to the encrypted contents data, and time information when encryption is done.

8. The information network system according to claim 1, wherein, the first information apparatus carries out time-management of the encrypted contents data that is stored in the concealment area, and performs automatic deletion by giving precedence to the encrypted contents data where access frequency is low.

9. The information network system according to claim 1, wherein, the external recording medium comprises a protect area that is accessible only when authentication between the first information apparatus and the second information apparatus is succeeded, and

the first information apparatus transfers to record the contents management information to the protect area.

10. The information network system according to claim 1, wherein, the first information apparatus does not delete the contents management information but stores to manage it in the concealment area.

11. The information network system according to claim 10, wherein, the first information apparatus carries out time-management of the contents management information stored in the concealment area, and performs automatic deletion by giving precedence to the encrypted contents data where access frequency is low.

12. An information network system, comprising a first information apparatus and a second information apparatus, wherein

the first information apparatus and the second information apparatus comprise respectively:

an internal recording medium for storing contents data;

an interface which transfers to record data relative to the contents data recorded in the internal recording medium to an external recording medium which is connected in a freely attachable or removable state to each of the information apparatus; and

a transmission/reception unit for connecting the information apparatus to a network, wherein

the internal recording medium comprises an area for storing the contents data and a concealment area for storing various kinds of data with limited accessibility, and the first information apparatus;

upon receiving a request to move the contents data from the second information apparatus through the network, encrypts the contents data as movement-request target;

generates contents management information that contains key information relative to encryption key used for encryption;

transfers the encrypted contents data along with the contents management information to the second information apparatus through the network;

deletes the key information relative to the encryption key from the contents management information after transfer; and

stores not only the management contents information from which the key information is deleted but also the encrypted contents data to the concealment area, and

the second information apparatus;

after requesting movement of the contents data to the first information apparatus through the network and receiving the encrypted contents data along with the contents management information from the first information apparatus to obtain the encryption key within the key information contained in received the contents management information, and then decrypts the encrypted contents data by using the encryption key.

13. The information network system according to claim 12, wherein:

the second information apparatus, upon receiving a request to move the contents data from the first information apparatus through the network, transmits the contents management information except the key information relative to the encryption key to the first information apparatus through the network, and transmits a request at the same time to confirm whether or not there exits the encrypted contents data on the concealment area of the internal recording medium of the first information apparatus;

the first information apparatus, upon receiving the contents management information and the confirmation request from the second information apparatus through the network, checks whether or not there exists the encrypted contents data in the concealment area of the apparatus its own by using the received contents management information and, when exists, transmits a response indicating existence to the second information apparatus through the network;

the second information apparatus;

upon receiving the response indicating presence of the encrypted contents data, transmits an instruction to decrypt the encrypted contents data to the first information apparatus through the network;

moves the contents data as target to the concealment area of the internal recording medium of its own apparatus;

transmits the key information relative to the encryption key that is used for encrypting the contents data to the first information apparatus through the network;

deletes the key information relative to the encryption key from the contents management information; and

stores the contents management information in the concealment area; and

the first information apparatus, upon receiving the decrypting instruction and the key information, reads out the encrypted contents data from the concealment area of its own apparatus according to the decrypting instruction, and then decrypts the encrypted contents data being read out by using the encryption key contained in the key information.

14. An information apparatus, comprising:

an internal recording medium for storing contents data;

a recording/reproducing unit for recording/reproducing the contents data to the internal recording medium;

an interface which transfers to record data relative to the contents data recorded in the internal recording medium to an external recording medium which is connected in a freely attachable or removable state;

a transmission/reception unit for transmitting and receiving data between a network; and

a control unit,

wherein the internal recording medium comprises an area for storing the contents data and a concealment area for storing various kinds of data with limited accessibility, and

the control unit comprises;

a compressor which reads out the contents data from the internal recording medium by controlling the recording/reproducing unit to perform conversion under compression of the contents data when a request is inputted to move the contents data to the external recording medium while the external recording medium is being connected;

a first transfer device to transfer to record the contents data converted under compression to the external recording medium trough the interface;

an encryption device for encrypting the contents data;

a storage device for storing the encrypted contents data to the concealment area of the internal recording medium;

a second transfer device which transfers to record the contents management information containing key information relative to encryption key that is used for encrypting the contents data to the external recording medium through the interface;

a deleting device for deleting the key information after the contents management information is transferred to record to the external recording medium;

a searching device which obtains the contents management information from the external recording medium that holds the contents data converted under compression, and searches another information apparatus that is connected to the network through the transmission/reception unit by using obtained the contents management information;

an acquisition device which, when the another information apparatus is found through the search of the network, that holds the encrypted contents data corresponding to the contents management information, obtains the encrypted contents data from the another information apparatus through the network; and

a decryption device for decrypting the encrypted contents data obtained in the acquisition device by using the encryption key contained in the contents management information.