PROVIDING ACCESS DEPENDENT SERVICES VIA A BROADBAND ACCESS GATEWAY

• US 20110310806A1
• Filed: 08/23/2011
• Published: 12/22/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Karaoguz, Jeyhan, Abrams, Marc, Seshadri, Nambirajan
• Granted Patent: US 8,983,466 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

A system supporting controlled access to multimedia information and media-related services, the system including a gateway communicatively coupled to a broadband network and at least one wireless interface, the gateway capable of selectively communicating multimedia information among the at least one wireless interface and the broadband network, and of communicating with a plurality of access devices via the at least one wireless interface. The gateway is also capable of selecting one of a plurality of access privilege tiers based upon identification information received from one of the plurality of access devices. The identification information includes a plurality of identity data pieces. Each of the plurality of identify data pieces differs from another of the plurality of identity data pieces. Access to each of the plurality of access privilege tiers requires a different degree of authentication that is represented by a different combination of the plurality of identity data pieces.

Claims

1-38. -38. (canceled)

39. A system supporting controlled access to multimedia information and media-related services, the system comprising:

a gateway communicatively coupled to a broadband network and at least one wireless interface, the gateway capable of selectively communicating multimedia information among the at least one wireless interface and the broadband network, and of communicating with a plurality of access devices via the at least one wireless interface;

the gateway capable of selecting one of a plurality of access privilege tiers based upon identification information received from one of the plurality of access devices, wherein the identification information comprises a plurality of identity data pieces, wherein each of the plurality of identify data pieces differs from another of the plurality of identity data pieces, and wherein access to each of the plurality of access privilege tiers requires a different degree of authentication that is represented by a different combination of the plurality of identity data pieces;

the gateway capable of controlling access by the one of the plurality of access devices to the multimedia information and media-related services, based upon the selected access privilege tier; and

software supporting management of the plurality of access privilege tiers by a user, via one or both of the gateway and/or the broadband network.

40. The system according to claim 39, wherein the multimedia information comprises one or more of streaming video, broadcast video, voice, digital data, text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, and/or digitized music.

41. The system according to claim 39, wherein the at least one media-related service comprises one or more of accessing, recording, playing, exchanging, transmitting, receiving, converting, and/or translating of multimedia information.

42. The system according to claim 39, wherein the plurality of identity data pieces comprises an identifier of an access device, a user identifier, a member identifier, an electronic serial number, a media access control (MAC) address, an administrative identifier, a password, a commercial credit card number, a personal identification number, and/or a digital certificate.

43. The system according to claim 39, wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with the Bluetooth V1.2 or compatible personal area network (PAN) specification.

44. The system according to claim 39, wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with one or more of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and/or 802.11n standards.

45. The system according to claim 39, wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates using an unlicensed frequency band.

46. The system according to claim 39, wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates at a frequency of approximately 2.4 gigahertz.

47. The system according to claim 39, wherein the broadband network comprises one or more of a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a cable network, a satellite network, a cellular network, and/or the Internet.

48. The system according to claim 47, wherein the cellular network comprises one or more of a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, and/or a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) network.

49. The system according to claim 39, wherein the gateway collects network location information of one or both of multimedia information and/or media-related services for at least one of the plurality of access devices and the broadband network.

50. The system according to claim 49, wherein the network location information comprises one or more of an Internet protocol (IP) address, a media access control (MAC) address, an access device identifier, and/or information identifying a type of multimedia information.

51. The system according to claim 49, wherein the gateway uses the collected network access information to make available to the user the one or both of multimedia information and/or media-related services.

52. The system according to claim 39, wherein the plurality of access devices comprises one or more of a mobile multimedia handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), a digital scanner, a digital camera, a printer, headphones, and/or a pointing device.

53. The system of claim 39, wherein:

a first degree of authentication occurs when the identification information is unknown;

a second degree of authentication occurs when the identification information is known;

a third degree of authentication occurs when the identification information is known and an associated member number is provided; and

a fourth degree of authentication occurs when the identification information is known, and an associated member number and a password are provided.

54. The system of claim 53, wherein a fifth degree of authentication occurs when a commercial credit number and associated personal identification number are provided.

55. The system of claim 54, wherein a sixth degree of authentication occurs when an administrative identification and associated password are provided.

56. A method for controlled access to multimedia information and media-related services, the method comprising:

in a gateway communicatively coupled to a broadband network and at least one wireless interface;

selectively communicating multimedia information among the at least one wireless interface and the broadband network, and communicating with a plurality of access devices via the at least one wireless interface;

selecting one of a plurality of access privilege tiers based upon identification information received from one of the plurality of access devices, wherein the identification information comprises a plurality of identity data pieces, wherein each of the plurality of identify data pieces differs from another of the plurality of identity data pieces, wherein access to each of the plurality of access privilege tiers requires a different degree of authentication that is represented by a different combination of the plurality of identity data pieces;

controlling access by the one of the plurality of access devices to the multimedia information and media-related services, based upon the selected access privilege tier; and

supporting management of the plurality of access privilege tiers by a user, via one or both of the gateway and/or the broadband network.

57. The method according to claim 56, wherein the multimedia information comprises one or more of streaming video, broadcast video, voice, digital data, text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, and/or digitized music.

58. The method according to claim 56, wherein the at least one media-related service comprises one or more of accessing, recording, playing, exchanging, transmitting, receiving, converting, and/or translating of multimedia information.

59. The method according to claim 56, wherein the plurality of identity data pieces comprises an identifier of an access device, a user identifier, a member identifier, an electronic serial number, a media access control (MAC) address, an administrative identifier, a password, a commercial credit card number, a personal identification number, and/or a digital certificate.

60. The method according to claim 56, wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with the Bluetooth V1.2 or compatible personal area network (PAN) specification.

61. The method according to claim 56, wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with one or more of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and/or 802.11n standards.

62. The method according to claim 56, wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates using an unlicensed frequency band.

63. The method according to claim 56, wherein the at least one wireless interface communicates at a frequency of approximately 2.4 gigahertz.

64. The method according to claim 56, wherein the broadband network comprises one or more of a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a cable network, a satellite network, a cellular network, and/or the Internet.

65. The method according to claim 64, wherein the cellular network comprises one or more of a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, and/or a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) network.

66. The method according to claim 56, wherein the plurality of access devices comprises one or more of a mobile multimedia handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), a digital scanner, a digital camera, a printer, headphones, and/or a pointing device.

67. The method of claim 56, wherein:

a first degree of authentication occurs when the identification information is unknown;

a second degree of authentication occurs when the identification information is known;

a third degree of authentication occurs when the identification information is known and an associated member number is provided; and

a fourth degree of authentication occurs when the identification information is known, and an associated member number and a password are provided.

68. The method of claim 67, wherein a fifth degree of authentication occurs when a commercial credit number and associated personal identification number are provided.

69. The method of claim 68, wherein a sixth degree of authentication occurs when an administrative identification and associated password are provided.

70. A method for controlled access to multimedia information and media-related services, the method comprising:

in a gateway communicatively coupled to a broadband network and at least one wireless interface;

selectively communicating multimedia information among the at least one wireless interface and the broadband network, and communicating with a plurality of access devices via the at least one wireless interface;

selecting one of a plurality of access privilege tiers based upon identification information received from one of the plurality of access devices, wherein the identification information comprises a plurality of identity data pieces, wherein each of the plurality of identify data pieces differs from another of the plurality of identity data pieces, wherein access to each of the plurality of access privilege tiers requires a different degree of authentication that is represented by a different combination of the plurality of identity data pieces;

controlling access by the one of the plurality of access devices to the multimedia information and media-related services, based upon the selected access privilege tier;

supporting management of the plurality of access privilege tiers by a user, via one or both of the gateway and/or the broadband network; and

collecting network location information of one or both of multimedia information and/or media-related services for at least one of the plurality of access devices and the broadband network.

71. The method according to claim 70, wherein the network location information comprises one or more of an Internet protocol (IP) address, a media access control (MAC) address, an access device identifier, and/or information identifying a type of multimedia information.

72. The method according to claim 70, comprising using the collected network access information to make available to the user the one or both of multimedia information and/or media-related services.