Adapter for connecting computer to satellite antenna

• US 6,215,873 B1
• Filed: 04/03/2000
• Issued: 04/10/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hughes Network Systems LLC (Echostar Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hughes Electronics Corporation (Rtx Corporation)
• Inventors: Dillon, Douglas M., Cassagnol, Robert D.
• Primary Examiner(s): CANGIALOSI, SALVATORE A
• Application Number:
  US09/541,249
• Time in Patent Office: 372 Days
• Field of Search: 380/44-47
• US Class Current: 380/44
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/10 Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material protection in video systems or pay television H04N7/16 ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18523 Satellite systems for providing broadcast service to terrestrial stations, i.e. broadcast satellite service arrangements specially adapted for satellite broadcast receiving H04H40/90; picture transmission via satellite H04N1/00103; television transmission via satellite H04N7/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18593 Arrangements for preventing unauthorised access or for providing user protection arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/74 of satellite networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 40/18 Arrangements characterised by circuits or components specially adapted for receiving
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 40/90 specially adapted for satellite broadcast receiving
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/15 on receiving information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/23 using cryptography, e.g. encryption, authentication, key distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/062 for key distribution, e.g. centrally by trusted party cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key distribution involving a central third party H04L9/0819
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/065 for group communications cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key management involving conference or group key H04L9/0833
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/104 Grouping of entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/105 Multiple levels of security
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4143 embedded in a Personal Computer [PC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4181 for conditional access
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/426 Internal components of the client ; Characteristics thereof H04N5/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/436 Interfacing a local distribution network, e.g. communicating with another STB or one or more peripheral devices inside the home
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/43607 Interfacing a plurality of external cards, e.g. through a DVB Common Interface [DVB-CI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4623 : Processing of entitlement messages, e.g. ECM [Entitlement Control Message] or EMM [Entitlement Management Message] arrangements for conditional access to broadcast information or to broadcast-related services H04H60/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6143 : involving transmission via a satellite
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 : by receiver means only
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 : Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]

Abstract

A method and apparatus for an adapter card, for use in a computer, to provide conditional access by the computer to incoming data streams while maintaining the security of information by maintaining a listing of addresses corresponding to data streams which the computer is authorized to receive, receiving and determining the address of a frame, determining whether the frame address matches an address maintained in an Access Table, and processing and transmitting only those frames of data streams which the computer is authorized to receive.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a connector that is configured to connect said apparatus to an antenna device comprising an antenna capable of receiving a signal from a satellite, wherein the signal comprises a plurality of data streams, each of the plurality of data streams including identifying information that uniquely identifies the data stream and being encrypted so that the data stream is to be decrypted using a key selected in accordance with the identifying information;

a tuner that is configured to receive a satellite signal from said connector and to perform tuning on the satellite signal;

a demodulator that is configured to receive the tuned satellite signal from said tuner and to perform demodulation on the tuned satellite signal, thereby outputting a demodulated data stream;

a forward error corrector that is configured to receive the demodulated data stream from said demodulator and to perform forward error correction on the demodulated data stream, thereby outputting a corrected data stream;

a conditional access unit that is configured to determine whether or not a personal computer is authorized to receive a data stream of the plurality of data streams by comparing the identifying information of the corrected data stream to stored identifying information;

a decryptor that is configured to, in accordance with the determination by said conditional access unit, receive the corrected data stream and to perform decryption upon encrypted frames within the corrected data stream, thereby outputting decrypted frames; and

an interface that is configured to receive the decrypted frames from said decryptor and to output the decrypted frames to the personal computer for further processing.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said apparatus is insertable into the computer.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said apparatus is an adapter card.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each encrypted frame comprises (a) as the identifying information, an address header for identifying the data stream to which the frame belongs, (b) a data field containing data, and (c) a CRC field.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the antenna device further comprises a low noise block, and said connector is configured to provide power to the low noise block using power from the computer.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said connector is configured to provide power to the low noise block by using a DC-DC converter to convert power from the computer.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the DC-DC converter provides power to said tuner.

8. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said forward error corrector comprises a Viterbi soft-decision decoder, depuncture logic, a deinterleaver, and a Reed-Solomon decoder.

9. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said tuner is controlled by the computer.

10. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the personal computer monitors said demodulator.

11. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said interface interrupts the computer to retrieve the decrypted frames.

12. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said interface automatically transfers the decrypted frames into memory of the computer.

20. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the demodulation is performed in accordance with control by the personal computer.

13. An apparatus comprising:

a connector that is configured to connect said apparatus to an antenna device comprising an antenna capable of receiving a signal from a satellite, wherein the signal comprises a plurality of data streams, each of the plurality of data streams including identifying information that uniquely identifies the data stream and being encrypted so that the data stream is to be decrypted using a key selected in accordance with the identifying information;

a tuner that is configured to receive a satellite signal from said connector and to perform tuning on the satellite signal;

a demodulator that is configured to receive the tuned satellite signal from said tuner and to perform demodulation on the tuned satellite signal, thereby outputting a demodulated data stream,

a forward error corrector that is configured to receive the demodulated data stream from said demodulator and to perform forward error correction on the demodulated data stream, thereby outputting a corrected data stream;

a conditional access unit that is configured to determine whether or not the personal computer is authorized to receive a data stream of the plurality of data streams by comparing the identifying information of the corrected data stream to stored identifying information;

a decryptor that is configured to, in accordance with the determination by the conditional access unit, receive the corrected data stream and to perform decryption upon encrypted frames within the corrected data stream, thereby outputting decrypted frames; and

an interface that is configured to receive the decrypted frames from said decryptor and to output the decrypted frames to the personal computer,

wherein said apparatus is an adapter card insertable into the personal computer,

wherein each encrypted frame comprises, as the identifying information, an address header,

wherein the antenna device further comprises a low noise block, and said connector is configured to provide power to the low noise block using power from the personal computer,

wherein said forward error corrector comprises a Viterbi decoder,

wherein said tuner is controlled by the personal computer.

14. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said connector is configured to provide power to the low noise block by using a DC-DC converter to convert power from the personal computer.

15. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said decryptor decrypts the encrypted frames using a key obtained in accordance with the address header identifying the data stream to which the frame belongs.

16. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said apparatus discards encrypted frames where no key is available for decryption to prevent encrypted frames from being transferred to the personal computer.

17. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said decryptor decrypts the encrypted frames on a frame-by-frame basis.

18. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said decryptor decrypts the encrypted frames on a frame-by-frame basis using a key obtained in accordance with the address header identifying the data stream to which the frame belongs, and said apparatus discards encrypted frames where no key is available for decryption to prevent encrypted frames from being transferred to the personal computer.

19. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said forward error corrector further comprises depuncture logic, a deinterleaver, and a Reed-Solomon decoder.

21. An apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the demodulation is performed in accordance with control by the personal computer and wherein the personal computer monitors said demodulator.