REMOTE CONTROL BIOMETRIC USER AUTHENTICATION

• US 20120206236A1
• Filed: 02/16/2011
• Published: 08/16/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cox Communications Incorporated (Cox Enterprises Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Cox Communications Incorporated (Cox Enterprises Incorporated)
• Inventors: King, John Kelly
• Granted Patent: US 8,988,192 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/5.83
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/32 using biometric data, e.g. fingerprints, iris scans or voiceprints
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2149 Restricted operating environment

Abstract

A remote control device for providing individualized access control. The remote control device includes an interface for accepting input from a user and forwarding a signal corresponding the to the input from the user to a conditional access device, a biometric scanner, coupled to the remote device, for reading a biometric characteristic of a user and a processor, coupled to the interface, for generating a signal associated with the reading of the biometric characteristic of the user that is transmitted to the conditional access device for analysis to determine a function corresponding to the input form the user to execute.

Claims

1. A remote control device having individualized access control, comprising:

an interface for accepting input from a user and forwarding a signal corresponding the to the input from the user to a conditional access device;

a biometric scanner, coupled to the remote device, for reading a biometric characteristic of a user; and

a processor, coupled to the interface, for generating a signal associated with the reading of the biometric characteristic of the user that is transmitted to the conditional access device for analysis to determine a function corresponding to the input form the user to execute.

2. The remote control device of claim 1 further comprising persistent memory, coupled to the biometric scanner, the memory storing biometric characteristic of a plurality of users.

3. The remote control device of claim 1, wherein the processor generates a signal based on an analysis of the reading received from the biometric scanner and the input from the user.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the biometric scanner is a capacitive finger print scanner.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the biometric scanner is an optical retina scanner.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the biometric scanner is a voice print scanner.

7. A method for providing individualized access control for a user, comprising:

receiving, from a user of a remote control device, an input command via a user input interface of the remote control device;

gathering biometric characteristics of the user using a biometric data retrieval module on the remote control device;

providing the input command and the biometric characteristic of the user from the remote control device to a conditional access device;

analyzing the biometric characteristic of the user with reference to biometric characteristics stored in memory at the conditional access device;

determining whether to authenticate the user based on the analysis of the biometric characteristics of the user; and

executing, by the conditional access device, a process in accordance with the input data received from the remote control device when the user of the remote control device is authenticated.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the executing the process comprises changing a channel.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the executing the process comprises engaging in a dialog with the user regarding a purchase of items.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the executing the process comprises engaging in a dialog with the user regarding a purchase of a subscription packages from a content provider.

11. The method of claim 7 further comprising prohibiting the performance of the process when the user is not authenticated.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the gathering biometric characteristics of the user comprises scanning a finger print of the user.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the gathering biometric characteristics of the user comprises optically scanning a retina of the user.

14. The method of claim 7, wherein the gathering biometric characteristics of the user comprises scanning a voice print of the user.

15. A computer readable medium including executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, provides individualized access control for a user, by:

receiving, from a user of a remote control device, an input command via a user input interface of the remote control device;

gathering biometric characteristics of the user using a biometric data retrieval module on the remote control device;

providing the input command and the biometric characteristic of the user from the remote control device to a conditional access device;

analyzing the biometric characteristic of the user with reference to biometric characteristics stored in memory at the conditional access device;

determining whether to authenticate the user based on the analysis of the biometric characteristics of the user; and

executing, by the conditional access device, a process in accordance with the input data received from the remote control device when the user of the remote control device is authenticated.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the executing the process comprises changing a channel.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the executing the process comprises engaging in a dialog with the user regarding a purchase of items.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the executing the process comprises engaging in a dialog with the user regarding a purchase of a subscription packages from a content provider.

19. The method of claim 15 further comprising prohibiting the performance of the process when the user is not authenticated.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the gathering biometric characteristics of the user comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of scanning a finger print of the user, optically scanning a retina of the user and scanning a voice print of the user.