DELIVERY OF MULTIPLE THIRD-PARTY SERVICES TO NETWORKED DEVICES

• US 20100106965A1
• Filed: 10/28/2008
• Published: 04/29/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Bucher, Timothy, Ross, Mark Andrew
• Granted Patent: US 8,671,274 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/156
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/60 Digital content management, e.g. content distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0876 based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3213 using tickets or tokens, e.g. Kerberos network architectures or network communication protocols for entities authentication using tickets in a packet data network H04L63/0807

Abstract

Systems and methods for authenticating a media device or other information handling system so as to be able to receive content from one or more media content providers. Authenticating the device includes determining what authentication information the media content providers require for access and then to generating and providing to the media device an authentication token that includes the required information. In some embodiments this may be accomplished by a service center, which removes the need for additional authentication steps to be performed by the media device or the media content providers. In addition, the service center may also determine when changes are made to the authentication information and may then ensure that the authentication token is changed or updated to reflect these changes. This ensures that the media device is at least partially immune to changes to authentication.

Claims

1. In a system including a media device that receives content or services from one or more media content providers, a method for providing authentication to the media device so that the media device may receive the content or services from the one or more media content providers, the method comprising:

receiving a request from a media device for content or services provided by a selected media content provider;

determining authentication information that is required by the selected media content provider in order for the media device to communicate with the selected media content provider;

generating an authentication token based on the authentication information; and

providing the authentication token to the media device, wherein the authentication token is configured to allow the media device to receive the content or services directly from the selected media provider without the need for additional authentication from the selected media content provider.

2. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein determining the authentication information comprises accessing authentication information that is stored in a memory.

3. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein determining the authentication information comprises accessing authentication information directly from the selected media content provider.

4. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the selected media content provider is a first media content provider and the request for content is a first request, the method further comprising:

receiving a second request from the media device for content or services provided by a second selected media content provider;

determining authentication information that is required by the second selected media content provider in order for the media device to communicate with the second selected media content provider;

generating a second authentication token based on the authentication information required by the second selected media content provider; and

providing the second authentication token to the media device, wherein the second authentication token is configured to allow the media device to receive the content or services directly from the second selected media provider without the need for additional authentication from the second selected media content provider.

5. The method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the authentication information required by the selected media content provider has been changed;

generating a second authentication token based on the changes to the authentication information; and

providing the second authentication token to the media device, wherein the second authentication token in configured to allow the media device to continue to receive content or services from the selected media provider without the need for additional authentication steps from either the media device or the media content provider.

6. The method in accordance with claim 5, wherein the second authentication token is provided to the media device upon receipt of a second request for content from the media device.

7. The method in accordance with claim 5, wherein the second authentication token is provided to the media device automatically upon the generation of the second authentication token.

8. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the media device is a first media device, the method further comprising:

receiving a request from a second media device for content or services provided by the selected media content provider; and

providing the authentication token to the second media device, wherein the authentication token is further configured to allow the second media device to receive the content or services directly from the selected media provider without the need for additional authentication from the selected media content provider.

9. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein generating an authentication token further comprises:

receiving additional information necessary to generate the authentication token from the media device.

10. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the authentication token includes at least one of user information, device configuration information, payment information, duration for which the authentication token is valid, or address information.

11. The method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the method is accomplished through the use of a service center that is external to the media device and the media content provider.

12. In a system including a media device that receives content or services from one or more media content providers, a method for the media device to receive authentication for access to the content or services from the one or more media content providers, the method comprising:

requesting content or services provided by a particular media content provider from an external service center;

receiving an authentication token for the particular media content provider from the external service center, the authentication token authenticating access to the content or services provided by the particular media content provider without the need for additional authentication from the particular media content provider; and

requesting access to the content or services from the particular media content provider.

13. The method in accordance with claim 12 further comprising:

receiving the content or services directly from the particular media content provider.

14. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein requesting access to the content or services from the particular media content provider comprises:

providing the authentication token to the particular media content provider.

15. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein the particular media content provider is a first media content provider and the authentication token is a first authentication token, the method further comprising:

requesting content or services provided by a second particular media content provider from the external service center;

receiving a second authentication token for the second particular media content provider from the external service center, the second authentication token authenticating access to the content or services provided by the second particular media content provider without the need for additional authentication from the second particular media content provider;

requesting access to the content or services from the second particular media content provider by providing the second authentication token to the second particular media content provider; and

receiving the content or services directly from the second particular media content provider.

16. The method in accordance with claim 12, further comprising:

receiving a second authentication token from the external service center whenever changes to the information required by the particular media content provider for authentication occurs.

17. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein the media device, the external service center, and the particular media content provider are connected via a wired or wireless network, wherein the wireless network is one or more of an 802.11 network, a terrestrial network, a cellular network, or a satellite network.

18. The method in accordance with claim 12, wherein the media device is one of a satellite radio device, a portable audio player, a portable DVD or CD player, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a server computer, a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or any combination thereof

19. A service center for providing authentication between one or more media devices and one or more media content providers, comprising:

a processor;

one or more transceivers for transferring data between the service center and the one or more media devices and between the service center and the one or more media content providers;

one or more memory modules for storing information required to authenticate the one or more media devices to receive content or services from the one or more media content providers; and

an authentication module configured to generate one or more authentication tokens based on the information required to authenticate the one or more media devices and configured to provide the one or more authentication tokens to the one or more media devices, the one or more authentication tokens configured to authenticate the one or more media devices to receive the content or services from the one or more media content providers without additional authentication steps by the one or more media devices and the one or more media content providers.

20. The service center in accordance with claim 19, wherein the authentication module is further configured to generate and provide to the one or more media devices an updated authentication token upon determination that the information required to authenticate the one or more media devices has been changed.

21. A media device comprising:

a processor;

a display;

an interface for receiving and transmitting digital media;

one or more memory modules for storing information; and

a user interface;

the media device configured to;

request content or services provided by a particular media content provider from an external service center;

receive an authentication token for the particular media content provider from the external service center, the authentication token authenticating access to the content or services provided by the particular media content provider without the need for additional authentication from the particular media content provider; and

request access to the content or services from the particular media content provider.