Audio delivery and rendering method and apparatus

• US 7,099,848 B1
• Filed: 02/16/2000
• Issued: 08/29/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Listen.com, Inc. (RealNetworks, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bratton, Timothy Robert
• Primary Examiner(s): Backer, Firmin
• Application Number:
  US09/505,486
• Time in Patent Office: 2,386 Days
• Field of Search: 705/57, 348/210, 345/671
• US Class Current: 705/57
• 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: G06F 2221/2107 File encryption
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/026 File encryption of specific electrophonic music instrument file or stream formats, e.g. MIDI, note oriented formats, sound banks, wavetables
• CPC Class Codes: G10L 19/00 Speech or audio signals analysis-synthesis techniques for redundancy reduction, e.g. in vocoders; Coding or decoding of speech or audio signals, using source filter models or psychoacoustic analysis in musical instruments G10H

Abstract

Method and system for audio synthesis of a digital data file representing an assembly of information-bearing sounds in digital form. One or more spaced apart data segments are designated as key blocks and are removed from the original data file. The remainder of the data file is encrypted or otherwise encoded and communicated to a selected recipient on a first channel. Locations, sizes and separation distances of key blocks from each other within the original data file and a selected portion of the encoding or encryption key are placed in a data supplement. The removed segments and data supplement (optional) are communicated to the selected recipient on a second channel and/or at another time. The original data file is recovered by using the data supplement information, or using already available information, decoding or decrypting the encoded or encrypted data file and replacing the removed segments within the data file remainder. Neither the remainder data file nor the removed segments plus data supplement is sufficient, by itself, to allow reproduction of the original data file. Each of the remainder data file and the removed segments plus data supplement can be distributed separately and subsequently combined when authorization or license to reproduce the sounds has been obtained.

Claims

1. A method for delivering a digital sound file to an electronic device, the method comprising:

dividing the digital sound file into first and second data files, the first data file comprising the digital sound file having at least one segment removed from each of a plurality of locations within the digital sound file, and the second data file comprising the segments removed from each of a plurality of locations within the digital sound file;

encrypting at least a portion of the first data file using an encryption key;

communicating to the electronic device for persistent storage on the electronic device, a selected one of the first data file and the second data file; and

communicating to another electronic device for delivery to the electronic device, the unselected one of the first and second data files, the delivery to the electronic device from the other electronic device being through a selected one of a) a removable storage medium and b) a data stream via a communications network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the digital sound file comprises a plurality of segments, and the dividing the digital sound file into first and second data files comprises:

removing a portion of the plurality of segments from the digital sound file;

storing the un-removed segments in the first data file; and

storing the removed segments in the second data file.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second data file includes a data supplement that indicates:

location within the digital sound file of the removed segments,

separation distance between two consecutive removed segments within the digital sound file, and

a portion of the encryption key.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the encryption key includes a key parameter that uses information from at least one of the removed segments.

5. A method for processing a digital sound file with a computing device, comprising:

receiving and persistently storing by the computing device, a selected one of a first data file and a second data file, the first data file comprising the digital sound file having at least one segment removed from a plurality of locations within the digital sound file, and the second data file comprising the at least one segment removed from the plurality of locations within the digital sound file, and at least a portion of the first data file having been encrypted;

receiving by the computing device, the unselected one of the first and second data files, via a selected one of a removable storage medium and a data stream;

decrypting the encrypted portion(s) of the first data file; and

combining the decrypted first data file and the second data file to form the digital sound file.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the second data file includes a data supplement that indicates:

location within the digital sound file of the removed segments,

separation distance between two consecutive removed segments within the digital sound file, and

a portion of an encryption key for decrypting the encrypted first data file.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first and second data files each include one or more segments, and combining the decrypted first data file and the second data file to form the digital sound file comprises:

using the data supplement to position the segments from the first and second data files into the digital sound file.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein decrypting the encrypted portion(s) of the first data file includes using a key, at least one parameter of the key is determined by the computing device from information in the second data file.

9. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code for delivering a digital sound file to a computing device, the computer program code comprising instructions for:

dividing the digital sound file into first and second data files, the first data file comprising the digital sound file having at least one segment removed from each of a plurality of locations within the digital sound file, and the second data file comprising the segments removed from each of a plurality of locations within the digital sound file;

encrypting at least a portion of the first data file using an encryption key;

communicating to the computing device for persistent storage on the computing device, a selected one of the first data file and the second data file; and

communicating to another computing device for delivery to the computing device, the unselected one of the first and second data files, the delivery being through a selected one of a) a removable storage medium and b) a stream of data.

10. The article of claim 9, wherein the digital sound file comprises a plurality of segments, and the dividing the digital sound file into first and second data files comprises:

removing a portion of the plurality of segments from the digital sound file;

storing the un-removed segments in the first data file; and

storing the removed segments in the second data file.

11. The article of claim 10, wherein the second data file includes a data supplement that indicates:

location within the digital sound file of the removed segments,

separation distance between two consecutive removed segments within the digital sound file, and

a portion of the encryption key.

12. The article of claim 9, wherein the encryption key includes a key parameter that uses information from at least one of the removed segments.

13. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code for a computing device to create a digital sound file, the computer program code comprising instructions for:

receiving and persistently storing by the computing device, a selected one of a first data file and a second data file, the first data file comprising the digital sound file having at least one segment removed from each of a plurality of locations within the digital sound file, the second data file comprising the segments removed from each of a plurality of locations within the digital sound file, and at least a portion of the first data file having been encrypted;

receiving by the computing device, via a selected one of a) a removable storage medium and b) a data stream, the unselected one of the first and second data files;

decrypting the encrypted portion(s) of first data file; and

combining the decrypted first data file and the second data file to form the digital sound file.

14. The article of claim 13, wherein the second data file includes a data supplement that indicates:

location within the digital sound file of the removed segments,

separation distance between two consecutive removed segments within the digital sound file; and

a portion of an encryption key for decrypting the encrypted first data file.

15. The article of claim 14, wherein the first and second data files each include one or more segments, and combining the first and second data files to form the digital sound file comprises:

the computing device using the data supplement to position the segments from the first and second data files into the digital sound file.

16. The article of claim 13, wherein decrypting the encrypted first data file includes the computing device using a key, at least one parameter of the key determined from information in the second data file.

17. The article of claim 13, further comprising instructions for rendering the combined digital sound file.

18. The article of claim 13, further comprising instructions for storing on a non-persistent storage the received unselected one of the first and second data files.

19. A method for delivering a digital sound file to a computing device, the method comprising:

dividing the digital sound file into first and second data files, the first data file comprising the digital sound file having at least one segment removed from each of a plurality of locations within the digital sound file, and the second data file comprising the segments removed from each of a plurality of locations within the digital sound file;

encrypting at least a portion of the first data file using an encryption key;

storing on a removable storage device, for delivery to the computing device, a selected one of the first data file and the second data file; and

communicating to another computing device for streaming to the computing device, the unselected one of the first and second data files.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the digital sound file comprises a plurality of segments, and the dividing the digital sound file into first and second data files comprises:

removing a portion of the plurality of segments from the digital sound file;

storing the un-removed segments in the first data file; and

storing the removed segments in the second data file.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the second data file includes a data supplement that indicates:

location within the digital sound file of the removed segments,

separation distance between two consecutive removed segments within the digital sound file, and

a portion of the encryption key.

22. A method for creating a digital sound file by a computing device, comprising:

receiving by the computing device, from a removable storage medium, a selected one of a first data file and a second data file, the first data file comprising the digital sound file having at least one segment removed from each of a plurality of locations within the digital sound file, the second data file comprising the segments removed from each of a plurality of locations within the digital sound file, and at least a portion of the first data file having been encrypted;

receiving by the computing device, a data stream comprising the unselected one of the first and second data files;

decrypting the encrypted portion(s) of the first data file; and

combining the decrypted first data file and the second data file to form the digital sound file.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the second data file includes a data supplement that indicates:

location within the digital sound file of the removed segments,

separation distance between two consecutive removed segments within the digital sound file, and

a portion of an encryption key for decrypting the encrypted first data file.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the first and second data files each include one or more segments, and combining the decrypted first data file and the second data file to form the digital sound file comprises:

using the data supplement to position the segments from the first and second data files into the digital sound file.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein decrypting the encrypted portion(s) of first data file includes using a key, at least one parameter of the key is determined by the computing device from information in the second data file.

26. The method of claim 22 further comprising storing the selected and the unselected one of the first and second data files in persistent and non-persistent storage respectively.

27. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code for delivering a digital sound file to a computing device, the computer program code comprising instructions for:

dividing the digital sound file into first and second data files, the first data file comprising the digital sound file having at least one segment removed from each of a plurality of locations within the digital sound file, and the second data file comprising the segments removed from each of a plurality of locations within the digital sound file;

encrypting at least a portion of the first data file using an encryption key;

storing on a removable storage device for provision to the computing device, a selected one of the first data file and the second data file; and

communicating to another computing device for transmission via a data stream to the computing device, the unselected one of the first and second data files.

28. The article of claim 27, wherein the digital sound file comprises a plurality of segments, and the dividing the digital sound file into first and second data files comprises:

removing a portion of the plurality of segments from the digital sound file;

storing the un-removed segments in the first data file; and

storing the removed segments in the second data file.

29. The article of claim 28, wherein the second data file includes a data supplement that indicates:

location within the digital sound file of the removed segments,

separation distance between two consecutive removed segments within the digital sound file, and

a portion of the encryption key.

30. The article of claim 27, wherein the encryption key includes a key parameter that uses information from at least one of the removed segments.

31. An article of manufacture comprising a computer-readable medium containing computer program code for a computing device to create a digital sound file, the computer program code comprising instructions for:

receiving by the computing device, from a removable storage medium, a selected one of a first data file and a second data file, the first data file comprising the digital sound file having at least one segment removed from each of a plurality of locations within the digital sound file, the second data file comprising the segments removed from each of a plurality of locations within the digital sound file, and the first data file having at least a portion encrypted;

receiving with the computing device, a stream of video data comprising the unselected one of the first and second data files;

decrypting the encrypted portion(s) of the first data file; and

combining the decrypted first data file and the second data file to form the digital sound file.

32. The article of claim 31, wherein the second data file includes a data supplement that indicates:

location within the digital sound file of the removed segments,

separation distance between two consecutive removed segments within the digital sound file; and

a portion of an encryption key for decrypting the encrypted first data file.

33. The article of claim 32, wherein the first and second data files each include one or more segments, and combining the decrypted first data file and the second data files to form the digital sound file comprises:

the computing device using the data supplement to position the segments from the first and second data files into the digital sound file.

34. The article of claim 31, wherein decrypting the encrypted portion(s) of the first data file includes the computing device using a key, at least one parameter of the key determined from information in the second data file.

35. The article of claim 31 further comprising instructions for storing the selected and the unselected one of the first and second data files in persistent and non-persistent storage respectively.