Proximity enforcement in heterogeneous network environments

• US 20070268911A1
• Filed: 05/22/2006
• Published: 11/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Alve, Jukka
• Granted Patent: US 7,613,829 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/395.520
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/101 applying security measures for digital rights management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0492 by using a location-limited connection, e.g. near-field communication or limited proximity of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/107 wherein the security policies are location-dependent, e.g. entities privileges depend on current location or allowing specific operations only from locally connected terminals

Abstract

The invention provides an enforcement mechanism for limiting the propagation of content to a predefined proximity in a heterogeneous network. The protection mechanism determines the distance associated with wireless links of the heterogeneous networks and verifies that the distance is within the predefined proximity limits. The distance may be measured by evaluating the signal strength of received signals. The protection mechanism further uses round trip time determinations to enforce the proximity limits on wired or unknown segments of the heterogeneous network. Specifically, the round trip time associated with a wired or unknown segment may be determined using the round trip time associated with the wireless segments and the total round trip time of the network as a whole. The round trip time of the wired or unknown segment is then compared to a round trip time limit associated with the proximity requirement for distributing content.

Claims

1. A method for enforcing content propagation limitations in a network established between a content source and a sink, the method comprising the steps of:

determining a distance of a first segment of the network;

determining whether the distance is within a predefined proximity threshold associated with the content propagation limitations;

in response to determining that the distance is within the predefined proximity threshold, determining a first round trip time associated with the first segment;

determining a total round trip time of the network between the source and the sink;

calculating a second round trip time associated with at least a second segment of the network, wherein the calculation is made based on a difference between the total round trip time and the first round trip time; and

comparing the second round trip time with a round trip time threshold.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second round trip time is further associated with a third segment of the network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the round trip time threshold is determined based on a predetermined round trip time budget and the first round trip time.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first segment includes a wireless link between the content source and an intermediate router.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the wireless link is a short-range wireless connection.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the distance of the first segment is determined based on a received power of a signal received by the content source.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of authorizing content propagation over the network in response to a determination that the second round trip time is lower than the predefined round trip time threshold.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of preventing content propagation over the network in response to a determination that the second round trip time is higher than the predefined round trip time threshold.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the second segment is a wired network connection.

10. The method of claim 1, further including the steps of:

determining whether the total round trip time is less than the first round trip time; and

in response to determining that the total round trip time is less than the first round trip time, preventing content propagation in the network.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the content propagation limitations are based on a Digital Transmission Content Protection—

Internet Protocol (DTCP-IP) protection system.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the content propagation limitations are based on a Digital Video Broadcast—

Content Protection and Copy Management system.

13. A method for enforcing content propagation limitations in a network established between a content source and a sink, the method comprising the steps of:

determining a first round trip time associated with a first segment of the network, wherein the first segment of the network is determined to meet a predefined proximity requirement based on a distance associated with the first segment, wherein the predefined proximity requirement is based on the content propagation limitations;

determining a total round trip time of the network;

calculating a second round trip time associated with at least a second segment of the network, wherein the calculation is made based on the total round trip time and the first round trip time; and

comparing the second round trip time with a predefined round trip time threshold.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first network segment is a short range wireless connection.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the distance associated with the first network segment is determined based on a received power of a received signal.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the first network segment is connected to an intermediate network device.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of authorizing content propagation over the network in response to a determination that the second round trip time is lower than the predefined round trip time threshold.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the second round trip time is calculated based on a difference between the total round trip time and the first round trip time.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein authorization to transmit content through the network is further based on whether the total round trip time is greater than the first round trip time.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the content propagation limitations are based on a Digital Transmission Content Protection—

Internet Protocol (DTCP-IP) protection system.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein the content propagation limitations are based on a Digital Video Broadcast—

Content Protection and Copy Management system.

22. A terminal comprising:

an input device;

a processor;

memory storing computer readable instructions that, when executed, cause the terminal to perform a method of authorizing content transmissions in a network, wherein the network includes a trusted wireless segment and an untrusted segment, the method including the steps of,

determining a distance associated with the trusted wireless segment, wherein the trusted wireless segment connects the terminal to an intermediate network device;

determining whether the distance is within a predefined proximity threshold;

in response to determining that the distance is within the predefined proximity threshold, determining a first round trip time associated with the wireless segment;

determining a total round trip time of the network;

calculating a second round trip time associated with at least the untrusted network segment, wherein the calculation is made based on a difference between the total round trip time and the first round trip time; and

comparing the second round trip time with a predefined round trip time limit.

23. The terminal of claim 22, wherein the trusted wireless segment includes a short-range wireless connection.

24. The terminal of claim 22, wherein the distance of the trusted wireless segment is determined based on a received power of a signal received at the terminal.

25. The terminal of claim 22, wherein the memory stores further instructions for performing the step of authorizing content propagation over the network in response to a determination that the second round trip time is lower than the predefined round trip time limit.

26. The terminal of claim 22, wherein the memory stores further instructions for performing the step of preventing content propagation over the network in response to a determination that the second round trip time is higher than the predefined round trip time threshold.

27. The terminal of claim 22, wherein the method further includes the steps of:

determining whether the total round trip time is less than the first round trip time; and

in response to determining that the total round trip time is less than the first round trip time, preventing content propagation in the network.

28. The terminal of claim 22, wherein the network is a Digital Transmission Content Protection—

Internet Protocol (DTCP-IP) network.

29. A terminal comprising:

an input device;

a processor;

memory storing computer readable instructions that, when executed, cause the terminal to perform a method of authorizing content transmissions in a network, wherein the network includes a trusted wireless segment and an untrusted segment, the method including the steps of,

receiving a selection of a content item for redistribution in the network;

measuring the distance associated with the trusted wireless segment of the network, wherein the measurement is made based on a received power of a signal received by the terminal;

transmitting a first echo request to determine a first round trip time associated with the trusted wireless segment;

transmitting a second echo request to determine a total round trip time associated with the network;

calculating a second round trip time associated with the untrusted segment based on a difference between the total round trip time and the first round trip time;

determining whether the second round trip time is below an allotted round trip time budget; and

in response to determining that the second round trip time is below the allotted round trip time budget, authorizing the selected content item to be transmitted through the network.

30. A method for enforcing content propagation limitations in a network established between a content source and a sink, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, at the content source, a first round trip time associated with a first network segment, wherein the first network segment is connected to at least the sink;

determining a total round trip time of the network between the source and the sink;

calculating a second round trip time associated with at least a second segment of the network, wherein the calculation is made based on a difference between the total round trip time and the first round trip time; and

comparing the second round trip time with a round trip time threshold.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the first round trip time is determined by the sink.

32. The method of claim 30, further including determining, at the content source, a third round trip time associated with a third network segment, wherein the third network segment is connected to at least the content source.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the calculation of the second round trip time is further based on the third round trip time.

34. A method for enforcing content propagation limitations in a network established between a content source and a sink, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, at the sink, a first round trip time associated with a first network segment, wherein the first network segment is connected to at least the content source;

determining, at the sink, a total round trip time of the network between the source and the sink;

calculating a second round trip time associated with at least a second segment of the network, wherein the calculation is made based on a difference between the total round trip time and the first round trip time; and

comparing the second round trip time with a round trip time threshold.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the first round trip time is determined by the sink.

36. The method of claim 34, further including the step of determining, at the sink, a third round trip time associated with a third network segment, wherein the third network segment is connected to at least the sink.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the calculation of the second round trip time is further based on the third round trip time.