Allowing degraded play of protected content using scalable codecs when key/license is not obtained

• US 9,003,558 B1
• Filed: 07/19/2012
• Issued: 04/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/12/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Dorwin, David Kimbal, Colwell, Aaron James, Scherkus, Andrew Martin, Galligan, Francis
• Primary Examiner(s): HOLDER, BRADLEY W
• Application Number:
  US13/553,630
• Time in Patent Office: 992 Days
• Field of Search: 726/30
• US Class Current: 726/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3003 Monitoring arrangements specially adapted to the computing system or computing system component being monitored
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/105 Arrangements for software license management or administration, e.g. for managing licenses at corporate level
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/1062 Editing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/1073 Conversion
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/50 Monitoring users, programs or devices to maintain the integrity of platforms, e.g. of processors, firmware or operating systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/60 Protecting data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/602 Providing cryptographic facilities or services
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/62 Protecting access to data via a platform, e.g. using keys or access control rules
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6209 to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/00 2D [Two Dimensional] image generation
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 20/00086 Circuits for prevention of unauthorised reproduction or copying, e.g. piracy indicating unauthorised use of record carriers in general G11B23/28; scrambling for television signal recording H04N5/913; network architectures or network protocols for network security H04L63/00; cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/603 Digital right managament [DRM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/101 applying security measures for digital rights management data processing systems or methods, specially adapted for commerce, e.g. marketing, shopping, billing, auctions or e-commerce G06Q30/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2463/103 applying security measure for protecting copy right protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment, e.g. protection the software providers copyright G06F21/10; data processing systems or methods, specially adapted for payment schemes, architectures or protocols G06Q20/00; secrecy systems or subscription systems H04N7/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/801 Real time traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/805 QOS or priority aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/00 Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for secret or secure communication H04L9/00; network architectures or network communication protocols for wireless network security H04W12/00; security arrangements for protecting computers or computer systems against unauthorised activity G06F21/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/06 for supporting key management in a packet data network cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key management H04L9/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0876 : based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 : Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 : Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1108 : Web based protocols, e.g. webRTC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/613 : for the control of the source by the destination control signals issued by the client directed to the server or network components specially adapted for selective content distribution H04N21/637
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/762 : at the source reformatting of additional data in video distribution servers H04N21/2355
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 : Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0631 : Substitution permutation network [SPN], i.e. cipher composed of a number of stages or rounds each involving linear and nonlinear transformations, e.g. AES algorithms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0861 : Generation of secret information including derivation or calculation of cryptographic keys or passwords
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/32 : including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system or for message authentication, e.g. authorization, entity authentication, data integrity or data verification, non-repudiation, key authentication or verification of credentials
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2347 : involving video stream encryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/24 : Monitoring of processes or resources, e.g. monitoring of server load, available bandwidth, upstream requests monitoring of server performance or load G06F11/34; arrangements for observation, testing or troubleshooting for broadcast or for distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25825 : involving client display capabilities, e.g. screen resolution of a mobile phone optimising the visualisation of content during browsing in the Internet G06F16/9577; processing of terminal status or physical abilities in wireless networks H04W8/22; authentication in wireless network security H04W12/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/25833 : involving client hardware characteristics, e.g. manufacturer, processing or storage capabilities allocation of resources considering hardware capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5044; allocation of resources considering software capabilities in multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/5055
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41407 : embedded in a portable device, e.g. video client on a mobile phone, PDA, laptop constructional details of equipment or arrangements specially adapted for portable computer application G06F1/1626; arrangements specially adapted for mobile receivers in broadcast systems H04H20/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4405 : involving video stream decryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4516 : involving client characteristics, e.g. Set-Top-Box type, software version or amount of memory available

Abstract

Embodiments are directed towards enabling a portion of a protected content stream to be played in a degraded quality or experience at a client device when a key and/or license for some other portion of the content stream is unobtainable, or is not obtained by the client device. A content stream has a plurality of layers, with a baseline layer having a lowest quality level of the plurality of layers that is unencrypted, while at least one other layer is encrypted. When the key to decrypt the encrypted layer(s) is unobtained, at least the baseline unencrypted layer is allowed to still play at the client device.

Claims

1. A client device, comprising:

a network interface to receive content over a network; and

one or more hardware processors configured to;

receive a plurality of layers for a content stream, at least a first layer of the plurality of layers being unencrypted and enabling a lowest level of play quality for the plurality of layers, and at least a second layer of the plurality of layers being encrypted and enabling a highest level of play quality for the plurality of layers, wherein the first layer and the second layer have an identical duration and correspond to an identical time segment of the content stream;

play at least the first layer;

request access to at least one decryption key or license usable to enable access to at least the second layer while playing the first layer;

determine whether the at least one decryption key or license has been acquired;

continue to enable play of at least the first layer in response to determining that the decryption key or license has not been acquired after being requested;

use the at least one decryption key or license to decrypt at least the second layer to form a decrypted layer in response to determining that the at least one decryption key or license has been acquired;

combine at least the first layer with the decrypted layer to form a combined layer; and

transition play of the content stream to the higher quality level of play using the combined layer.

2. The client device of claim 1, wherein the one or more hardware processors:

determine a highest non-decrypting level of quality within the plurality of layers playable absent decrypting any of the layers; and

combine one or more of the layers at the highest non-decrypting level of quality for use in playing the content absent access to the at least one decryption key or license.

3. The client device of claim 2, wherein determining the highest non-decrypting level of quality further comprises determining a configuration of the client device, and using the configuration to further select a level of quality.

4. The client device of claim 1, wherein playing at least the first layer further comprises using a scalable compression/decompression (CODEC) component to combine one or more layers with the first layer to generate a level of quality for play that is higher than the first layer.

5. The client device of claim 1, wherein requesting access to the at least one decryption key or license further comprises requesting the at least one decryption key or license based on a key rotation point in the content stream, or a user requested seek to a different portion of the content stream for play.

6. A computer-based method operating on a computer device, comprising:

receiving a plurality of layers for a content stream, at least a first layer of the plurality of layers being unencrypted and enabling a lowest level of play quality for the plurality of layers, and at least a second layer of the plurality of layers being encrypted and enabling a highest level of play quality for the plurality of layers, wherein the first layer and the second layer have an identical duration and correspond to an identical time segment of the content stream;

playing, using a hardware processor, at least the first layer;

requesting access to at least one decryption key or license usable to enable access to at least the second layer while playing the first layer;

determining whether the at least one decryption key or license has been acquired;

continuing to enable play of at least the first layer in response to determining that the decryption key or license has not been acquired after being requested;

using the at least one decryption key or license to decrypt at least the second layer to form a decrypted layer in response to determining that the at least one decryption key or license has been acquired;

combining at least the first layer with the decrypted layer to form a combined layer; and

transitioning play of the content stream to the higher quality level of play using the combined layer.

7. The computer-based method of claim 6, wherein continuing to enable play further comprises decreasing a level of quality of play while waiting for the at least one decryption key or license based on detecting a key rotation point in the content stream.

8. The computer-based method of claim 6, wherein playing the first layer further comprises selecting a highest non-decrypting quality of play available by combining layers in the plurality of layers, each layer being combined being received as an unencrypted layer, and combining the layers increases a quality level from the first layer.

9. The computer-based method of claim 6, wherein playing the first layer further comprises selecting a level of quality for play based on the received layers and a configuration of the computer device.

10. The computer-based method of claim 6, wherein requesting access to the at least one decryption key or license further comprises requesting the at least one decryption key or license based on a key rotation point in the content stream, or a user requested seek to a different portion of the content stream for play.

11. The computer-based method of claim 6, wherein playing at least the first layer further comprises using a scalable compression/decompression (CODEC) component to combine at least an unencrypted layer in the plurality of layers with the first layer to generate a level of quality for play that is higher than the first layer.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium, having computer-executable instructions stored thereon, that in response to execution by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations, comprising:

receiving a plurality of layers for a content stream, at least a first layer of the plurality of layers being unencrypted and enabling a lowest level of play quality for the plurality of layers, and at least a second layer of the plurality of layers being encrypted and enabling a highest level of play quality for the plurality of layers, wherein the first layer and the second layer have an identical duration and correspond to an identical time segment of the content stream;

playing at least the first layer;

requesting access to at least one decryption key or license usable to enable access to at least the second layer while playing the first layer;

determining whether the at least one decryption key or license has been acquired;

continuing to enable play of at least the first layer in response to determining that the decryption key or license has not been acquired after being requested;

using the at least one decryption key or license to decrypt at least the second layer to form a decrypted layer in response to determining that the at least one decryption key or license has been acquired;

combining at least the first layer with the decrypted layer to form a combined layer; and

transitioning play of the content stream to the higher quality level of play using the combined layer.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the computing device performs operations, further comprising:

determining a highest non-decrypting level of quality within the plurality of layers playable absent decrypting any of the layers; and

combining one or more of the layers comprising the highest non-decrypting level of quality for use in playing the content absent access to the at least one decryption key or license.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein determining the highest non-decrypting level of quality further comprises determining a configuration of the computing device, and using the configuration to further select a level of quality.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein playing at least the first layer further comprises using a scalable compression/decompression (CODEC) component to combine at least an unencrypted layer in the plurality of layers with another layer having another level of quality to generate a level of quality for play that is higher than the first layer.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein requesting access to the at least one decryption key or license further comprises requesting the at least one decryption key or license based on a key rotation point in the content stream, or a user requested seek to a different portion of the content stream for play.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein levels of quality vary in at least one of a color, audio feature, or a dimensional feature of the content stream.