License consignment method and system for portable device

• US 9,043,244 B2
• Filed: 02/17/2009
• Issued: 05/26/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Lee, Kyung Keun, Lee, Byung Rae, Im, Kwan Hyuk
• Primary Examiner(s): Ravetti, Dante
• Application Number:
  US12/372,474
• Publication Number:
  US 20090210947A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,289 Days
• Field of Search: 705/16, 705/21, 705/59, 705/71, 380/44, 380/262, 380/278, 380/279
• US Class Current: 705/59
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/1084 via third party
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/2541 Rights Management protecting software against unauthorised usage in a vending or licensing environment G06F21/10; security in data switching network management H04L41/28; security management or policies for network security H04L63/20; access security in wireless networks H04W12/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26613 for generating or managing keys in general key distribution for secret or secure communication involving central third party, e.g. key distribution center [KDC] or trusted third party [TTP] H04L9/083; network support of key management H04L63/06; key management for network security in communication control or processing H04W12/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/63345 by transmitting keys key distribution for secret or secure communication H04L9/08; network support of key management H04L63/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/165 Centralised control of user terminal subsequent to an upstream request signal H04N7/17345; Registering at central by two-way working H04N7/17309

Abstract

A license consignment method and system for a portable device playing a right-protected content with a license is provided for improving utilization reliability and manageability of a license by enabling a license server to manage the license consigned by the portable device. The method includes selecting a license to be consigned to a license server, transmitting the license server license information corresponding to the selected license, and transmitting, when the license is not downloaded in a certain time, a download trigger message to the portable device.

Claims

1. A license consignment service method for a portable device, the method comprising:

selecting, by the portable device, a license, from among at least one license stored on the portable device;

designating, by the portable device, a device that will consume protected content corresponding to the selected license stored on the portable device;

transmitting, by the portable device, license information corresponding to the selected license to a license server, wherein the license information includes a consignment period of the selected license and notification information;

determining, by the license server, an established consignment period of the selected license and established notification information based on the transmitted license information corresponding to the selected license;

generating, by the license server, a download trigger;

including, by the license server, within the generated trigger, information that solicits the designated device to download the license before the established consignment period ends;

associating, by the license server, the generated download trigger to the designated devices based on the established notification information;

transmitting, by the license server, the generated download trigger to the designated device;

determining, by the license server, that the selected license is not downloaded before the established consignment period ends;

based on the determination that the selected license has not been downloaded before the established consignment period ends, transmitting a Rights Object (RO) acquisition trigger message from the license server to the portable device; and

transmitting, by the portable device, a RO response message to the license server, the RO response message indicating that the license consigned to the license server is withdrawn from the license server.

2. The license consignment service method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining at least one of that the license information comprises no consignment conditions and that the consignment conditions do not comply with a consignment policy of the license server; and

determining new consignment conditions based upon the determining the at least one of that the license information comprises no consignment conditions and that the consignment conditions do not comply with the consignment policy of the license server.

3. The license consignment service method of claim 2, further comprising transmitting a consignment condition notification message indicating the new consignment conditions from the license server to the portable device.

4. The license consignment service method of claim 3, further comprising outputting, at the portable device, a notification message informing of new consignment conditions.

5. The license consignment service method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the license server does not support a license consignment service; and

transmitting, based on the determining that the license server does not support the license consignment service, a consignment rejection message from the license server to the portable device for informing the portable device that the license server does not support the license consignment service.

6. A license consignment system comprising:

a portable device including a portable device processor and a non-transitory medium storing instructions that, when executed by the portable device processor, cause the portable device to perform the steps of;

storing at least one license, in a memory unit of the portable terminal, that permits consumption of protected contents;

selecting a license, from among the at least one license stored on the portable device;

designating a device that will consume protected content corresponding to the selected license stored on the portable device;

transmitting license information corresponding to the selected license to a license server, the license information including a consignment period and notification information;

the license server including a license server processor and another non-transitory medium storing instructions that, when executed by the license server processor, cause the license server to perform the steps of;

storing the license information transmitted by the portable device;

determining an established consignment period of the selected license and established notification information based on the transmitted license information corresponding to the selected license;

generating a download trigger message;

including, within the generated trigger message, information that solicits the designated device to download the selected license before the established consignment period expires;

associating the generated download trigger to the designated devices based on the established notification information;

transmitting the generated download trigger to the designated device;

determining that the selected license is not downloaded before the established consignment period ends;

based on the determination that the selected license has not been downloaded before the established consignment period ends, transmitting a Rights Object (RO) acquisition trigger message to the portable device; and

receiving a RO response message transmitted by the portable device, the RO message indicating that the license consigned to the license server is withdrawn from the license server.

7. The license consignment system of claim 6, wherein the designated device may comprise at least one of the portable device that consigned the selected license to the license server and another portable device.

8. The license consignment system of claim 7, wherein the license server including the second controller executes further program instructions for causing the license server to:

transmit the download trigger message a certain number of times at a certain interval while determining whether a response message is received from the designated device.

9. The license consignment system of claim 6, wherein the license information comprises consignment conditions comprising at least one of the consignment period and the notification policy.

10. The license consignment system of claim 9, further comprising:

determining at least on of that the license information comprises no consignment conditions and that the consignment conditions do not comply with a consignment policy of the license server; and

based on the determination that at least one of the license information comprises no consignment conditions and the consignment conditions do not comply with a consignment policy of the license server, causing the license server to determine new consignment conditions.

11. The license consignment system of claim 10, wherein the license server including the second controller executes further program instructions for causing the license server to transmit a consignment condition notification message indicating the new consignment conditions to the portable device.

12. The license consignment system of claim 11, wherein the portable device including the first controller executes further program instructions for causing the portable device to output a notification message informing of the new consignment conditions.

13. The license consignment system of claim 6, wherein the license server including the second controller executes further program instructions for causing the license server to:

determine that the license consignment service is not supported; and

based upon the determination that the license consignment service is not supported, transmit a consignment rejection message to the portable device for informing the portable device that the license server does not support the license consignment.

14. A license consignment service method for a portable device, the method comprising:

selecting, by the portable device, a license, from among at least one license stored on the portable device;

designating, by the portable device, a device that will consume protected content corresponding to the selected license stored on the portable device;

transmitting, by the portable device, license information corresponding to the selected license to a license server, wherein the license information includes a consignment period of the selected license and notification information;

determining that the selected license has not been downloaded before an established consignment period ends;

based on a determination that the selected license has not been downloaded before an established consignment period ends, receiving a Rights Object (RO) acquisition trigger message from the license server, wherein the established consignment period being determined by the license server based on the license information corresponding to the selected license;

determining, by the portable device, that the license consigned to the license server is withdrawn from the license server;

transmitting, by the portable device, a RO response message to the license server; and

indicating, by the transmitted RO response message, that the license consigned to the license server is withdrawn from the license server.