Method and system for managing authentication and payment for use of broadcast material

• US 7,966,662 B2
• Filed: 01/06/2005
• Issued: 06/21/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/02/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Semple, James, Hawkes, Philip Michael, Quick, Roy Franklin Jr., Rose, Gregory Gordon
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoffman; Brandon S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Song; Hee
• Application Number:
  US11/031,507
• Publication Number:
  US 20060048235A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,357 Days
• Field of Search: 326/8, 380200-242, 380247-251, 380255-278, 380/281, 380/284, 713/150, 713/168, 713/171, 713/176, 713/180, 713/182, 713/194, 713/181, 725/4, 725/31, 725/26, 370/355, 709/223, 705/26, 726/4, 726/26, 726/29, 726/30, 726/31, 726/27
• US Class Current: 726/26
• 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: H04L 12/189 in combination with wireless systems selective distribution or broadcast in wireless communication networks H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/60 Digital content management, e.g. content distribution
• 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 63/0823 using certificates cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving certificates H04L9/3263
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/126 the source of the received data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0822 using key encryption key
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/083 involving central third party, e.g. key distribution center [KDC] or trusted third party [TTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/321 involving a third party or a trusted authority

Abstract

An authentication system is disclosed. The authentication system includes a content provider configured to distribute encrypted content, wherein the encrypted content is generated using a content key, and a client having a symmetric key and configured to store the encrypted content received from the content provider and issue a request to the content provider, wherein the request includes a cryptographic function configured to have the symmetric key and the encrypted content as input, wherein the content provider is further configured to verify the client via the request to ensure that the client has received the encrypted content.

Claims

1. A mobile phone comprising:

a symmetric key;

a processor; and

control logic executable by the processor and configured to;

receive non-requested encrypted content from a content provider via a broadcast transmission, wherein the encrypted content is received from the content provider using spare broadcast capacity;

send a request to the content provider to access the previously received encrypted content, wherein the request includes a terminal identifier and a result of a cryptographic function having the symmetric key and the encrypted content as inputs, the terminal identifier allowing the content provider to identify the symmetric key associated with the mobile phone;

receive a content key secured by the symmetric key from the content provider if the content provider successfully verifies based on the request that the encrypted content has been correctly received by the mobile phone, the content key secured by the symmetric key being an encrypted content key;

decrypt the encrypted content key using the symmetric key; and

decrypt the encrypted content using the content key.

2. The mobile phone of claim 1 wherein the control logic is further configured to store one or more access conditions and allow a user to access the decrypted content in accordance with the one or more access conditions.

3. The mobile phone of claim 2 wherein the control logic is further configured to include payment control logic configured to charge the user for access to the decrypted content.

4. A method operational in a content provider for securely broadcasting content, the method comprising:

encrypting content using a content key to generate encrypted content;

broadcasting the encrypted content to at least one client without receiving a request for the encrypted content from the client, wherein the encrypted content is broadcast to the client using spare broadcast capacity;

receiving a request from the client to access the previously broadcast encrypted content, the request including a terminal identifier and a result of a cryptographic function having a symmetric key associated with the client and the entire encrypted content as inputs, the terminal identifier allowing the content provider to identify the symmetric key associated with the client;

examining the request to verify that the client has correctly received the encrypted content; and

forwarding a content key secured by the symmetric key from the content provider to the client in response to successful verification of the request.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

collecting payment from the client for accessing the content.

6. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

sending one or more access conditions for the content to the client.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the encrypted content is forwarded from a broadcast service provider that sends the encrypted content as a broadcast.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the broadcast encrypted content is capable of being received by a plurality of clients.

9. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

avoiding the involvement of a trusted third party in examining the request to verify that the client has correctly received the encrypted content.

10. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

broadcasting the encrypted content to a plurality of clients, wherein each of the plurality of clients can independently request access to the encrypted content using another symmetric key uniquely known to each of the plurality of clients and the content provider.

11. A method operational in a mobile device, comprising:

receiving non-requested encrypted content from a content provider at the mobile device via a broadcast transmission, wherein the encrypted content is received from the content provider using spare broadcast capacity;

sending a request to the content provider to access the previously received encrypted content, the request including a terminal identifier and a result of a cryptographic function having a symmetric key and the encrypted content as inputs, the terminal identifier allowing the content provider to identify the symmetric key associated with the mobile device;

receiving a content key secured by the symmetric key from the content provider if the content provider successfully verifies based on the request that the encrypted content has been correctly received by the mobile device, the content key secured by the symmetric key being an encrypted content key;

decrypting the encrypted content key using the symmetric key; and

decrypting the encrypted content using the content key.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

storing one or more access conditions associated with the content; and

allowing a user to access the decrypted content in accordance with the one or more access conditions.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

sending payment to the content provider for access to the decrypted content.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the cryptographic function includes a collision-resistant hash function or an encryption function.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the broadcast encrypted content is capable of being received by a plurality of mobile devices.

16. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

avoiding the involvement of a trusted third party in successfully verifying based on the request that the encrypted content has been correctly received by the mobile device.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

receiving the encrypted content at the mobile device via a broadcast transmission capable of being received by a plurality of mobile devices that can each independently request access to the encrypted content using another symmetric key uniquely known to each of the plurality of mobile devices and the content provider.

18. A mobile device, comprising:

means for receiving non-requested encrypted content from a content provider at the mobile device via a broadcast transmission, wherein the encrypted content is received from the content provider using spare broadcast capacity;

means for sending a request to the content provider to access the previously received encrypted content, the request including a terminal identifier and a result of a cryptographic function having a symmetric key and the encrypted content as inputs, the terminal identifier allowing the content provider to identify the symmetric key associated with the mobile device;

means for receiving a content key secured by the symmetric key from the content provider if the content provider successfully verifies based on the request that the encrypted content has been correctly received by the mobile device, the content key secured by the symmetric key being an encrypted content key;

means for decrypting the encrypted content key using the symmetric key; and

means for decrypting the encrypted content using the content key.

19. The mobile device of claim 18, further comprising:

means for collecting payment for access to the decrypted content.

20. A computer processor readable medium comprising instructions operational in a mobile device, which when executed by one or more processors causes the processor to:

receive non-requested encrypted content from a content provider at the mobile device via a broadcast transmission, wherein the encrypted content is received from the content provider using spare broadcast capacity;

send a request to the content provider to access the previously received encrypted content, the request including a terminal identifier and a result of a cryptographic function having a symmetric key and the encrypted content as inputs, the terminal identifier allowing the content provider to identify the symmetric key associated with the mobile device;

receive a content key secured by the symmetric key from the content provider if the content provider successfully verifies based on the request that the encrypted content has been correctly received by the mobile device, the content key secured by the symmetric key being an encrypted content key;

decrypt the encrypted content key using the symmetric key; and

decrypt the encrypted content using the content key.

21. A content provider comprising:

a symmetric key associated with a client;

a control logic configured to;

encrypt content using a content key to generate encrypted content;

broadcast the encrypted content to at least one client without a request being received from the client for the encrypted content, wherein the encrypted content is broadcast to the client using spare broadcast capacity;

receive a request from the client to access the previously broadcast encrypted content, the request including a terminal identifier and a result of a cryptographic function having the symmetric key and the encrypted content as inputs, the terminal identifier allowing the content provider to identify the symmetric key associated with the client;

examine the request to verify that the client has correctly received the encrypted content; and

forward a content key secured by the symmetric key from the content provider to the client in response to successful verification of the request.

22. The content provider of claim 21, wherein the control logic is further configured to:

collect payment from the client for accessing the content.

23. The content provider of claim 21, wherein the control logic is further configured to:

send one or more access conditions for the content to the client.

24. A content provider, comprising:

means for encrypting content using a content key to generate encrypted content;

means for broadcasting the encrypted content to at least one client without a request being received from the client for the encrypted content, wherein the encrypted content is broadcast to the client using spare broadcast capacity;

means for receiving a request from the client to access the previously broadcast encrypted content, the request including a terminal identifier and a result of a cryptographic function having a symmetric key associated with the client and the encrypted content as inputs, the terminal identifier allowing the content provider to identify the symmetric key associated with the client;

means for examining the request to verify that the client has correctly received the encrypted content; and

means for forwarding a content key secured by the symmetric key from the content provider to the client in response to successful verification of the request.

25. The content provider of claim 24, further comprising:

means for collecting payment from the client for accessing the content.

26. The content provider of claim 24, further comprising:

means for sending one or more access conditions for the content to the client.

27. A computer processor readable medium comprising instructions operational in a content provider, which when executed by one or more processors causes the processor to:

encrypt content using a content key to generate encrypted content;

broadcast the encrypted content to at least one client without a request being received from the client for the encrypted content, wherein the encrypted content is broadcast to the client using spare broadcast capacity;

receive a request from the client to access the previously broadcast encrypted content, the request including a terminal identifier and a result of a cryptographic function having a symmetric key associated with the client and the encrypted content as inputs, the terminal identifier allowing the content provider to identify the symmetric key associated with the client;

examine the request to verify that the client has correctly received the encrypted content; and

forward a content key secured by the symmetric key from the content provider to the client in response to successful verification of the request.