TECHNIQUE FOR EXECUTING A SOFTWARE PROGRAM IN RESPONSE TO A RECEIVED START ENABLE SIGNAL THAT COMPRISES TIME INFORMATION, IN WHICH EXECUTION IS NOT STARTED OR IS INTERRUPTED IF THE TIME INFORMATION IS SMALLER THAN PREVIOUSLY SENT TIME INFORMATION

• US 6,640,335 B2
• Filed: 04/09/2001
• Issued: 10/28/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/25/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Ebisawa, Kan
• Primary Examiner(s): INGBERG, TODD D
• Application Number:
  US09/829,215
• Publication Number:
  US 20010018765A1
• Time in Patent Office: 932 Days
• Field of Search: 717/172, 345/419, 705/14, 725/28, 725/32, 725/36
• US Class Current: 717/172
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/338 using television networks
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/35 Details of game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/61 using advertising information
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/73 Authorising game programs or game devices, e.g. checking authenticity
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/77 involving data related to game devices or game servers, e.g. configuration data, software version or amount of memory
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 13/803 Driving vehicles or craft, e.g. cars, airplanes, ships, robots or tanks
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/201 Playing authorisation given at platform level
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/409 Data transfer via television network
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/50 characterized by details of game servers
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/5506 using advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/552 for downloading to client devices, e.g. using OS version, hardware or software profile of the client device
• CPC Class Codes: A63F 2300/8017 Driving on land or water; Flying
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0265 Vehicular advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/106 Receiver-side switching
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/13 Arrangements for device control affected by the broadcast information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/375 Commercial
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

This game machine system includes a set top box 51 as a receiving unit for receiving digital data distributed using a broadcast system or a communication system. In a game dedicated device 52, starting of a game software item is inhibited until a software start enable signal is received by the receiving unit. Next to the software start enable signal, data for substitution or insertion for data of part of the game software is sent. This data can be commercial ads. The game dedicated machine 52 can judge whether or not the commercial ads have been introduced into and are in operation in the game software and, if the commercial ads are not in the game software, the game dedicated machine 52 can be made so as to be out of operation.

Claims

1. A program executing apparatus for executing a software program, comprising:

reception means for receiving a program start enable signal distributed from a data distributing device and data for substitution or insertion for original data of said software program; and

control means for substituting or inserting the original data of said software program for said data responsive to the program start enable signal received by said reception means for executing said software program,

wherein the start enable signal comprises time information, and wherein execution of the software program is not started or is interrupted if the time information sent at a given time is smaller in value than time information sent prior to said given time.

2. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said control means executes said software program only when the software program to be executed is a current software program.

3. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said control means is responsive to said program start enable signal to judge whether or not the software program is suited for being started on the program executing apparatus;

and wherein

if said software program is judged to be suited for being started on the program executing apparatus, said control means causes the software program to be executed.

4. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the program start enable signal distributed by said data distribution device is information encrypted in accordance with a pre-set algorithm so that said software program can be executed by said control means only when the software program to be executed by the program executing apparatus is a current software program.

5. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said control means decodes the encrypted program start enable signal and causes the software program to be executed only when the program start enable signal have been decoded regularly.

6. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said software program contains a program for decoding the encrypted program start enable signal.

7. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said software program contains a program for decoding the encrypted program start enable signal and a program for substituting or inserting the distributed data for data of a portion of the software program for executing the resulting software program.

8. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said software program contains a program for decoding the encrypted program start enable signal and a program for substituting or inserting the distributed data for original data of a portion of the software program for executing the resulting software program;

and wherein

said control means controls execution of said software program using the decoding program and the executing program.

9. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said original data of the software program is recorded on a random-accessible recording medium.

10. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein said reception means receives said program start enable signal and said data, said reception means also receiving the address information specifying for which portion of the software program recorded on the recording medium the data distributed by said data distribution device is substituted or inserted.

11. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein said reception means receives said program start enable signal and said data, said reception means also receiving the address information specifying for which portion of the software program recorded on the recording medium the data distributed by said data distribution device is substituted or inserted;

and wherein

said control means when executing said software program causes the distributed data to be substituted or inserted for original data of the software program at a position corresponding to said address information.

12. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 9 wherein said control means is programmed so that, when the software program is executed in accordance with the program start enable signal, a routine is executed which executes the software program using the distributed data in place of a routine of executing the software program using original data on the recording medium specified by said address information.

13. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 9 further comprising:

a buffer memory for storing the data distributed by said data distributing device.

14. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein said reception means receives said program start enable signal and said data, said reception means also receiving the medium address, that is the address information specifying for which portion of the software program recorded on the recording medium the data distributed by said data distribution device is substituted or inserted;

said control means holding on memory the medium address and the data in association with each other prior to execution of said software program; and

wherein

if readout of data corresponding to said medium address is commanded during execution of said software program, said control means causes the software program to be executed using data stored in said buffer memory without using the original data on said software program corresponding to said medium address.

15. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 14 wherein said control means is programmed so that, when the software program is executed in accordance with the program start enable signal, a routine is executed which executes the software program using the distributed data in place of a routine of executing the software program using data on the recording medium specified by said medium address.

16. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 15 wherein, if said program start enable signal is supplied at a pre-set interval from said data distributing device,

said control means first decodes the encrypted program start enable signal and then causes the data to be stored in said buffer memory.

17. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein said control means decodes the program start enable signal supplied from the data distributing device;

said control device causing the data to be stored in the buffer memory if the program start enable signal has been decoded regularly;

said control device being programmed for substituting or inserting the data stored in said buffer memory for part of the original data of the software program recorded on said recording medium for executing the software program.

18. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 17 wherein said control means decodes the program start enable signal distributed from the data distributing device;

said control device causing the execution of the software program to be limited if the program start enable signal has not been decoded regularly.

19. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein the data distributed by said data distribution device has a format correlated with the medium address which is the above-mentioned address information specifying for which portions of the original software program recorded on the recording medium the above data is substituted or inserted.

20. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 19 wherein said control means causes the data distributed by said data distribution device, a buffer address specifying the recording position of distributed data in said buffer memory and the medium address corresponding to the distributed data to be correlated with one another for storage of the correlated data therein.

21. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 20 wherein said control means is programmed so that

it is judged whether or not there is a readout request for data on a recording medium corresponding to the medium address stored in said buffer memory;

if there is a readout request for data on a recording medium corresponding to the medium address, data stored in said buffer memory is read out in meeting with the buffer address stored in association with the medium address in said buffer memory, without reading out data corresponding to said medium address from said recording medium; and

so that

the software program is executed using data read out from said buffer memory.

22. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein

if said program start enable signal is supplied at a pre-set period from said data distributing device,

said control means first judges whether or not the program start enable signal has been decoded regularly and subsequently causes the data distributed from said data distributing device to be stored in said buffer memory.

23. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein said control means is programmed so that, of plural sorts of data distributed from said data distributing device, only data correlated with the program ID representing the software program executed by the program executing apparatus will be stored in said buffer memory.

24. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein, if the program executing apparatus and the data distribution device can communicate bi-directionally, said control means transmits the program ID signal representing the software program to said data distributing device in order to have the program start enable signal and said data pertaining to said software program distributed from said data distribution device.

25. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 24 wherein said control means is responsive to said program ID signal to judge whether or not the data is to be received on the basis of the program start enable signal returned by said data distribution device.

26. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 24 wherein said control means is responsive to said program ID signal to limit the starting of said software program on the basis of the program start enable signal returned by said data distribution device.

27. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 24 wherein said control means is responsive to said program ID signal to vary the results of execution of said software program on the basis of the program start enable signal and the data returned by said data distribution device.

28. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 24 wherein

the apparatus is connected to display means adapted for displaying a video image generated on executing the software program;

said control means being programmed for switching from a video image which might be displayed on said display means if the software program is executed using only the data recorded on said recording medium to a video image which might be displayed on said display means if the software program is executed using data returned form said data distributing device responsive to the program ID signal.

29. The program executing apparatus as claimed in claim 13 wherein, if it is commanded to execute the software program recorded on said recording medium, said control means performs

first transmitting processing of transmitting the program ID signal representing the software program to said data distributing device in order to have the program start enable signal and said data pertaining to said software program distributed from said data distribution device;

first judgment processing of judging whether or not the distributed program start enable signal has been decoded regularly;

causing data distributed from said data distributing device to be stored in said buffer memory if the program start enable signal has been decoded regularly in said first judgment processing;

second transmitting processing of re-transmitting the program ID signal to said data distributing device; and

second judgment processing of re-judging whether or not the distributed program start enable signal has been decoded regularly;

said control means causing the software program to be executed using the data store in said buffer memory if the program start enable signal has been decoded regularly in said second judgment processing.

30. A program executing method for executing a software program, comprising:

a receiving step of receiving a program start enable signal distributed by date distributing means and data for substitution or insertion for original data of part of said software program; and

a control step of substituting or inserting said data for original data of part of said software program responsive to the program start enable signal received in said receiving step for executing the resulting software program,

wherein the start engine signal comprises time information, and wherein execution of the software program is not started or is interrupted if the time information sent at a given time is smaller in value than time information sent prior to said given time.