Patent · US Expired

Key distribution in a conditional access system

US7296159B2 · kind B2 · utility

7Cited by
4References
25Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 22, 2003
Grant dateNov 13, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 26, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04N21/6405
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for key distribution in a conditional access system, assuming that the set of all user nodes which the system can accommodate is a complete set, and a subset is composed of all user nodes or part of user nodes. One method comprises: decomposing said subset into at least one secondary subset; assigning a different user key to each secondary subset, each said user key being transmitted to all users in a corresponding secondary subset; encrypting an entitlement key by using each said user key so as to generate a cipher text corresponding to each said secondary subset; and combining said cipher text to generate a media key control block and transmitting said media key control block to all users in said subset. Since a classification method of a binary tree and a multiple tree is used, the invention can save a lot of network resources.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.