Method and apparatus for connecting computer to satellite antenna

• US 6,331,979 B1
• Filed: 09/25/2000
• Issued: 12/18/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 11/14/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hughes Electronics Corporation (Rtx Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Hughes Electronics Corporation (Rtx Corporation)
• Inventors: Dillon, Douglas M., Cassagnol, Robert D.
• Primary Examiner(s): CANGIALOSI, SALVATORE A
• Application Number:
  US09/668,464
• Time in Patent Office: 449 Days
• Field of Search: 370/392, 375/316, 380/44
• US Class Current: 370/392
• 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;

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, wherein the demodulation is performed in accordance with control by a computer;

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;

an address filterer that is configured to receive the corrected data stream from said forward error corrector and to perform address filtering upon frames within the corrected data stream, thereby outputting frames selected in accordance with the address filtering; and

an interface that is configured to receive the selected frames from said address filterer and to output the selected frames to the computer.

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 3, wherein said apparatus outputs the selected frames to the computer through a bus interface.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each frame comprises an address header for identifying the data stream to which the frame belongs, a data field containing data, and a CRC field.

6. 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.

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, 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.

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

9. 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.

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

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

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

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

14. 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;

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, wherein the demodulation is performed in accordance with control by a computer and wherein the computer monitors said demodulator;

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;

an address filterer that is configured to receive the corrected data stream from said forward error corrector and to perform address filtering upon frames within the corrected data stream in accordance with an address header in each frame identifying the data stream to which the frame belongs, said address filterer outputting frames selected in accordance with the address filtering; and

an interface that is configured to receive the selected frames from said address filterer and to output the selected frames to the computer,

wherein said apparatus is an adapter card insertable into the computer and said apparatus outputs the selected frames to the computer through a bus interface,

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,

wherein said forward error corrector comprises a Viterbi decoder,

wherein said tuner is controlled by the computer.

15. An apparatus according to claim 14, 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.

16. An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said forward error corrector further comprises depuncture logic, a deinterleaver, and a Reed-Solomon decoder.

17. An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said interface interrupts the computer to retrieve the selected frames.

18. An apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said interface automatically transfers the selected frames into memory of the computer.

19. An apparatus according to claim 14, 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.

20. An apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the DC-DC converter provides power to said tuner.

21. An apparatus comprising:

a tuner that is configured to receive the output of a low noise block of a satellite receiver and perform tuning upon the output to select a signal;

a data demodulator that is configured to receive the signal selected by said tuner and to convert the signal into a digital data stream;

a power unit that is configured to receive power from a power supply of a computer and to output power to the low noise block of the satellite receiver through said tuner; and

an interface that is configured to transmit from said apparatus to the computer the digital data stream from said data demodulator and information for monitoring said data demodulator.

22. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said interface is configured to allow the computer to send commands to said tuner and to said demodulator to control operation of said tuner and said demodulator.

23. An apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising a forward error corrector for performing forward error correction on the digital data stream.

24. An apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising means for identifying frames within the digital data stream.

25. An apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising means for performing address filtering to select frames from the digital data stream having a predetermined address.

26. An apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising means for performing decryption on a frame from the digital data stream.

27. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said apparatus is an adapter card insertable into the computer.

28. An apparatus according to claim 21, further comprising a microprocessor for controlling operation of said tuner and said demodulator.

29. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said power unit comprises a DC-DC converter that is configured to convert a voltage received from the power supply of the computer into a plurality of voltages.

30. An apparatus according to claim 29, wherein the plurality of voltages are received by said tuner and include a voltage for the low noise block.

31. An apparatus according to claim 30, wherein the voltage received from the power supply of the computer is +5V.

42. An apparatus according to claim 21, wherein said power unit comprises a DC-DC converter that is configured to convert power from the power supply of the computer into a plurality of voltages.

43. An apparatus according to claim 42, wherein the plurality of voltages are received by said tuner and include a voltage for the low noise block.

32. An apparatus comprising:

a tuner that is configured to receive the output of a low noise block of a satellite receiver and perform tuning upon the output to select a signal;

a data demodulator that is configured to receive the signal selected by said tuner and to convert the signal into a digital data stream;

a power unit that is configured to receive power from a power supply of a computer and to output power to the low noise block of the satellite receiver through said tuner; and

an interface that is configured to transmit from said apparatus to the computer the digital data stream from said data demodulator and information for monitoring said tuner.

44. An apparatus according to claim 32, wherein said power unit comprises a DC-DC converter that is configured to convert power from the power supply of the computer into a plurality of voltages.

45. An apparatus according to claim 44, wherein the plurality of voltages are received by said tuner and include a voltage for the low noise block.

33. A method comprising:

tuning the output of a low noise block of a satellite receiver to select a signal;

demodulating the signal selected in said tuning step into a digital data stream using a demodulator;

one of (a) transmitting to a computer through an interface the digital data stream and information for monitoring said demodulating step, and (b) transmitting to a computer through an interface the digital data stream and information for monitoring said tuning step; and

supplying power to the low noise block of the satellite receiver using a power supply of the computer.

34. A method according to claim 33, further comprising receiving commands via the interface for controlling said tuning and demodulating steps from the computer.

35. A method according to claim 33, further comprising performing forward error correction on the digital data stream.

36. A method according to claim 33, further comprising identifying frames within the digital data stream.

37. A method according to claim 33, further comprising performing address filtering to select frames from the digital data stream having a predetermined address.

38. A method according to claim 33, further comprising decrypting a frame from the digital data stream.

46. A method according to claim 33, wherein said supplying step comprises a step of converting power from the power supply of the computer into a plurality of voltages.

47. A method according to claim 46, wherein the plurality of voltages are received by a tuner used in said tuning step and include a voltage for the low noise block.

39. An apparatus comprising:

means for powering a low noise block of a satellite receiver using power from a computer;

means for performing tuning and data demodulation upon the output of the low noise block to provide a digital data stream;

means for transmitting the digital data stream to the computer; and

means for transmitting information for monitoring the data demodulation to the computer.

40. An apparatus according to claim 39, wherein said means for powering comprises means for converting a voltage from a power supply of the computer into a voltage for the low noise block.

41. An apparatus according to claim 40, wherein said means for performing tuning and data demodulation comprises a tuner, and wherein the voltage for the low noise block is provided to the low noise block through said tuner.

48. An apparatus according to claim 39, wherein said means for powering comprises means for converting power from the power supply of the computer into a plurality of voltages.

49. An apparatus according to claim 48, wherein said means for performing tuning and data demodulation comprises a tuner, and wherein the plurality of voltages are received by said tuner and include a voltage for the low noise block.