Method of providing secure content-based user experience enhancement within a content protection architecture

• US 7,073,200 B2
• Filed: 01/24/2001
• Issued: 07/04/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Maliszewski, Richard L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wright, Norman M.
• Application Number:
  US09/769,155
• Publication Number:
  US 20020097872A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,987 Days
• Field of Search: 726/329, 726/27, 726/26, 726 16- 17, 726/30, 726/32, 713/100, 713/201, 713/202, 713/200
• US Class Current: 726/26
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23439 for generating different versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44029 for generating different versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4405 involving video stream decryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/8106 involving special audio data, e.g. different tracks for different languages
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/1675 Providing digital key or authorisation information for generation or regeneration of the scrambling sequence pseudo-random number generators in general G06F7/58

Abstract

Providing secure content-based user experience enhancement in a player device for rendering digital content includes accepting encrypted digital content, decrypting the encrypted digital content into decrypted digital content, downsampling the decrypted digital content into downsampled digital content; and processing the downsampled digital content by an enhancement module to provide the user experience enhancement. The system protects content being rendered by a player application even when the content is also sent to an enhancement module such as a plug-in. The original content is protected by only transferring a version of the content to the enhancement module that is downsampled. That is, the original high fidelity, high value content is never transferred to the untrusted enhancement module. Instead, the content is downsampled into a lower fidelity form that it is still useful for the purposes of enhancement module processing, but is not useful or desirable for other purposes (such as normal rendering of the content for enjoyment by the user).

Claims

1. A method of providing secure content-based user experience enhancement in a player device for rendering digital content comprising:

accepting encrypted first fidelity digital content by a player application module in the player device;

securely decrypting the encrypted first fidelity digital content by the player application module into decrypted first fidelity digital content;

securely and audibly rendering, by the player application module, the decrypted first fidelity digital content for perception by the user;

securely downsampling, by the player application module, the decrypted first fidelity digital content into downsampled digital content having a second fidelity, the second fidelity lower than the first fidelity; and

displaying images by a visual enhancement plug-in software module based on the downsampled digital content having the second fidelity in conjunction with the audible rendering of the decrypted first fidelity digital content by the player application module.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising decompressing the decrypted first fidelity digital content prior to downsampling.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising protecting the decrypting, rendering, and downsampling actions by using tamper resistance techniques to deter unauthorized access to the decrypted first fidelity digital content.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the player application module is provided by a first software provider to the user and the visual enhancement plug-in software module is provided by a second software provider to the user, the first software provider being different than the second software provider.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital content comprises digital audio data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital content comprises digital audio and video data.

7. An article comprising:

a storage medium having machine readable instructions stored thereon, the instructions, when executed by a processor, provide for secure content-based user experience enhancement in a player device for rendering digital content by accepting encrypted first fidelity digital content by a player application module in the player device, securely decrypting the encrypted first fidelity digital content by the player application module into decrypted first fidelity digital content, securely and audibly rendering, by the player application module, the decrypted first fidelity digital content for perception by the user, securely downsampling, by the player application module, the decrypted first fidelity digital content into downsampled digital content having a second fidelity, the second fidelity lower than the first fidelity, and displaying images by a visual enhancement plug-in software module based on the downsampled digital content having the second fidelity in conjunction with the audible rendering of the decrypted first fidelity digital content by the player application module.

8. The article of claim 7, further comprising instructions for decompressing the decrypted first fidelity digital content prior to downsampling.

9. A processing system providing secure content-based user experience enhancement in a player device for rendering digital content, comprising:

a player application module including

a tamper resistant decryption agent to securely accept encrypted first fidelity digital content, to securely decrypt the encrypted first fidelity digital content into decrypted first fidelity digital content; and

to securely downsample the decrypted first fidelity digital content into downsampled digital audio content having a second fidelity, the second fidelity lower than the first fidelity; and

a tamper-resistant renderer coupled to the decryption agent to securely audibly render the decrypted first fidelity digital content for perception by the user; and

an visual enhancement plug-in software module coupled to the decryption agent to receive the downsampled digital content having the second fidelity, and to cause the display of images based on the downsampled digital content having the second fidelity in conjunction with the audible rendering of the decrypted first fidelity digital content.

10. The system of claim 9, further comprising a tamper resistant decompressor module to decompress the decrypted first fidelity digital content prior to downsampling.

11. The processing system of claim 9, wherein the player application module is provided by a first software provider to the user and the visual enhancement plug-in software module is provided by a second software provider to the user, the first software provider being different than the second software provider.