Apparatus, method, and system for digital content and access protection

• US 8,964,972 B2
• Filed: 09/03/2009
• Issued: 02/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Colin Gavrilenco, Mathieu Therien
• Original Assignee: Colin Gavrilenco, Mathieu Therien
• Inventors: Gavrilenco, Colin, Therien, Mathieu
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoffman, Brandon
• Assistant Examiner(s): Salehi, Helai
• Application Number:
  US13/061,906
• Publication Number:
  US 20110268268A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,000 Days
• US Class Current: 380/37
• 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: G10L 19/018 Audio watermarking, i.e. embedding inaudible data in the audio signal
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/10037 A/D conversion, D/A conversion, sampling, slicing and digital quantisation or adjusting parameters thereof
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/44 Processing of video elementary streams, e.g. splicing a video clip retrieved from local storage with an incoming video stream or rendering scenes according to encoded video stream scene graphs
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4627 Rights management associated to the content security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08

Abstract

There is described a method for providing an audio signal to a user-end, comprising: modifying an amplitude of at least some bits of the audio signal using at least one user-specific series of bits, thereby obtaining a non-identical copy of the audio signal; transmitting the non-identical copy to the user-end; at the user-end, identifying the at least some bits within the non-identical copy; and restoring the amplitude of the at least some bits using the at least one user-specific series of bits, thereby reconstructing the audio signal.

Claims

1. A method for providing an audio signal to a user, comprising:

sampling said audio signal at a user specific sampling rate, thereby obtaining temporally organized sample amplitudes;

removing a timer interrelation between said temporally organized sample amplitudes, thereby obtaining sample amplitudes having no time interrelation;

transmitting said sample amplitudes having no time interrelation to said user; and

reconstructing said audio signal by inserting a user-specific sampling interval between successive ones of said sample amplitudes, said user-specific sampling interval corresponding to said user-specific sampling rate.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said sampling comprises splitting said audio signal into at least two audio signal segments and applying a different sampling rate to each one of said at least two audio signal segments.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting one of a duration of each one of said at least two audio signal segments and a number of samples contained in each one of said at least two audio signal segments, and said inserting is performed in accordance with said one of said duration and said number of samples.

4. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein said reconstructing comprises locally retrieving one of a duration of each one of said at least two audio signal segments and a number of samples contained in each one of said at least two audio signal segments.

5. A system for transferring an audio signal to a user, comprising:

a first machine comprising a first memory, a first processor and first communication means, said first processor being adapted for sampling said audio signal at a user specific sampling rate in order to obtain temporally organized sample amplitudes and to remove a time interrelation between said temporally organized sample amplitudes in order to obtain sample amplitudes having no time interrelation; and

a second machine comprising a second memory for storing a user-specific sampling interval, a second processor and second communication means and being in communication with said first machine, said second processor being adapted for reconstructing said audio signal by inserting said user-specific sampling interval between successive ones of said sample amplitudes having no time interrelation, said user-specific sampling interval corresponding to said user-specific sampling rate.

6. The system as claimed in claim 5, wherein said first processor is adapted for splitting said audio signal into at least two audio signal segments, said user-specific sampling rate varying as a function of said at least two audio signal segments, said user-specific sampling interval varying as a function of a location of said successive ones within said sample amplitudes having no time interrelation.

7. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein said first processor is adapted for transmitting one of a duration of each one of said at least two audio signal segments and a number of samples contained in each one of said at least two audio signal segments, and said second processor is adapted to insert said user-specific sampling interval in accordance with said one of said duration and said number of samples.

8. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein said second processor is adapted for locally retrieving one of a duration of each one of said at least two audio signal segments and a number of samples contained in each one of said at least two audio signal segments.

9. A method for downloading an audio signal, comprising:

receiving a non-identical copy of said audio signal, said non-identical copy comprising sample amplitudes having no time interrelation resulting from a sampling of said audio signal using a user specific sampling rate, thereby obtaining the sample amplitudes, and from a removal of the time interrelation between said sample amplitudes; and

reconstructing said audio signal by inserting a user-specific sampling interval between successive ones of said sample amplitudes, said user-specific sampling interval corresponding to said user-specific sampling rate.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said user-specific sampling interval varies as a function of a location of said successive ones of said sample amplitudes.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said receiving comprises receiving one of a duration of each one of said at least two audio signal segments and a number of samples contained in each one of said at least two audio signal segments, and said inserting is performed in accordance with said one of said duration and said number of samples.

12. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein said reconstructing comprises locally retrieving one of a duration of each one of said at least two audio signal segments and a number of samples contained in each one of said at least two audio signal segments.

13. A digital audio player comprising:

communication means adapted to receive a non-identical copy of an audio signal comprising sample amplitudes having no time interrelation resulting from a sampling of said audio signal using a user specific sampling rate, thereby obtaining the sample amplitudes, and from a removal of the time interrelation between said sample amplitudes;

a memory for storing a user-specific sampling interval corresponding to said user-specific sampling rate;

a reconstruction module adapted to reconstruct a digital reconstructed copy of said audio signal by inserting said user-specific sampling interval between successive ones of said sample amplitudes; and

a digital-to-analog converter adapted to convert said digital reconstructed copy in an analog audio signal.

14. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein said reconstruction module is adapted to insert said user-specific sampling interval, which varies as a function of a location of said successive ones of said sample amplitudes.

15. The system as claimed in claim 14, wherein said communication means is adapted for receiving one of a duration of each one of said at least two audio signal segments and a number of samples contained in each one of said at least two audio signal segments, and said reconstruction module is adapted to insert said user-specific sampling interval in accordance with said one of said duration and said number of samples.

16. The system as claimed in claim 14, wherein said reconstruction module is adapted for locally retrieving one of a duration of each one of said at least two audio signal segments and a number of samples contained in each one of said at least two audio signal segments.