Method of providing a radio service at a remote terminal

• US 8,680,963 B2
• Filed: 06/27/2005
• Issued: 03/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Rowse, Graham
• Primary Examiner(s): Bugg, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): OBINIYI, PAULSON IDOWU
• Application Number:
  US11/629,012
• Publication Number:
  US 20090015370A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,193 Days
• Field of Search: 340 101- 106, 3405721-5729, 340/5.2, 340/7.21, 340/7.25, 235375-385, 370/329, 370/330, 370/336, 370/342, 455/15, 455/47, 455/419, 455/503
• US Class Current: 340/5.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/28 Arrangements for simultaneous broadcast of plural pieces of information
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/23 using cryptography, e.g. encryption, authentication, key distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/601 Broadcast encryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/80 Wireless network architectures or network communication protocols for wireless network security H04W12/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3247 involving digital signatures

Abstract

A method of providing a service at a remote terminal including receiving information broadcast by a commercial radio station in a broadcast radio channel; discriminating an identifier of an application within the received broadcast information; initiating an authentication process for authenticating broadcast information received via the broadcast channel; and in response to a positive authentication, enabling use of information received via the broadcast radio channel by the identified application.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving at a remote terminal information broadcast by a commercial radio station in a broadcast radio channel, the commercial radio station having only uni-directional broadcast radio communication capability with respect to the remote terminal;

discriminating an identifier of an application within the received broadcast information;

initiating an authentication process for authenticating broadcast information received via the broadcast radio channel; and

in response to a positive authentication, enabling use of information received via the broadcast radio channel by the identified application;

wherein the authentication process is a uni-directional process that comprises discriminating a signature within the broadcast information received via the broadcast radio channel; and

verifying the signature using a digital key that is downloaded to the terminal using a bi-directional communication channel that is separate from the broadcast radio channel, where the digital key periodically is changed by a broadcaster of the broadcast information.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the digital key is associated with the radio station and the authentication process is for authenticating the origin of the received information as the radio station.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the signature comprises data scrambled using the digital key before it is broadcast in the broadcast radio channel and the step of verifying the signature comprises descrambling the signature using the digital key to recover the data and verifying the data.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein data comprises a value that changes in time.

5. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the data identifies the radio station.

6. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the data is for use by the identified application.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising downloading the application to the terminal.

8. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the authentication process is dependent upon the downloaded application.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the authentication process uses the digital key that is downloaded to the terminal.

10. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the application is a JAVA application and is downloaded within a MIDIet.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the MIDIet defines the authentication process.

12. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the MIDIet defines the digital key that is used in the authentication process.

13. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the MIDIet is a secure MIDIet comprising a digital certificate of the radio station.

14. A method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the MIDIet is downloaded via a cellular telecommunications network.

15. A method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the MIDIet is pulled via the cellular telecommunications network.

16. A method as claimed in claim 14, further comprising detecting when the broadcast radio channel changes during the provision of the service to a new broadcast radio channel;

initiating the authentication process for authenticating broadcast information received; and

in response to a positive authentication, enabling use of information received via the new broadcast radio channel by the identified application and in response to a negative authentication, disabling use of information received via the new broadcast radio channel by the identified application.

17. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the service is provided via the radio data service (RDS) open data application (ODA) and the identifier of an application within the received broadcast information is the application identifier (AID).

30. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the service is provided via the radio data service (RDS) open data application (ODA) and the identifier of an application within the received broadcast information is the application identifier (AID).

18. A terminal comprising:

a receiver for receiving information from a uni-directional broadcast by a commercial radio station in a broadcast radio channel, where the terminal has only uni-directional broadcast reception radio communication capability with respect to the commercial radio station;

a processor connected with a non-transitory memory that stores computer program instructions that when loaded into the processor control operations of the terminal, where the operations comprise discriminating an identifier of an application within the received broadcast information;

authenticating broadcast information received via the broadcast channel; and

enabling/disabling the use of information received via the broadcast radio channel by the identified application,

wherein in response to a positive authentication of the broadcast information received via the broadcast radio channel enabling the use of information received via the broadcast channel by the identified application;

wherein authenticating is a uni-directional process that comprises discriminating a signature within the broadcast information received via the broadcast channel; and

verifying the signature using a digital key that is downloaded to the terminal using a bi-directional communication channel that is separate from the broadcast radio channel, where the digital key periodically is changed by a broadcaster of the broadcast information.

19. A method of simultaneously providing a service to a plurality of remote terminals comprising:

broadcasting from a commercial radio station information in a uni-directional broadcast radio channel comprising an identifier of an application and information for use by the identified application, where the commercial radio station has only uni-directional broadcast radio communication capability with respect to each of the remote terminals; and

providing a digital key, for authenticating the broadcast information, to each of the plurality of remote terminals, where the digital key is provided to each of the plurality of remote terminals separately from the uni-directional broadcast radio channel;

wherein authenticating is a uni-directional process that comprises discriminating a signature included within the broadcast information received via the broadcast radio channel; and

verifying the signature using the digital key that is downloaded to each of the remote terminals using a bi-directional communication channel that is separate from the broadcast radio channel, where the digital key periodically is changed by a broadcaster of the broadcast information;

where the application is a JAVA application and is downloaded within a MIDIet where the MIDIet also defines the digital key used in the authentication process.

20. A method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the signature comprises data scrambled using the digital key.

21. A method as claimed in claim 20, wherein data comprises a value that changes in time.

22. A method as claimed in claim 20, wherein the data is a secret shared between the plurality of remote terminals.

23. A method as claimed in claim 20, wherein the data reliably identifies the radio station.

24. A method as claimed in claim 20, wherein the data is for use by the identified application.

25. A method as claimed in claim 19, further comprising providing the application separately from the broadcast radio channel.

26. A method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the MIDIet defines an authentication process.

27. A method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the MIDIet is a secure MIDIet comprising a digital certificate of the radio station broadcasting the information.

28. A method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the MIDIet is downloaded via a cellular telecommunications network.

29. A method as claimed in claim 28, wherein the MIDIet is pulled via the cellular telecommunications network.