Cryptographic Binding of Content to QUIC Transport Sessions

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing digital rights management (DRM) systems struggle to effectively bind content to Internet protocol transport sessions, particularly due to the separation between DRM systems and IP transport protocols, and lack cryptographic verification of protocol identifiers, making secure content delivery challenging.

Innovation Solution

The proposed solution involves using QUIC connections with TLS for encrypted and verified transport, generating cryptographic keys based on connection and stream identifiers, and employing a Connection Key Store to securely bind digital content to QUIC connections, ensuring only authorized devices can access and decrypt the content.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If traditional DRM systems are used to bind content to transport sessions, then content protection is provided, but cryptographic verification of protocol identifiers is lacking and secure binding to IP transport sessions is ineffective

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecontent protectionVSAvoidsystem integration
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent combines DRM content protection with QUIC transport protocol by integrating cryptographic key generation that binds content keys to QUIC connection identifiers. This merging allows the DRM system to verify transport session integrity directly through cryptographic means, eliminating the need for separate verification mechanisms and improving content protection reliability while managing complexity through unified cryptographic binding.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

2Reliability

If content is encrypted using connection-based keys, then secure content delivery is achieved, but the system requires integration of TLS and DRM authorities

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesecure content deliveryVSAvoidauthority integration
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a key generation mechanism that acts as an intermediary between TLS and DRM authorities. This intermediary cryptographic key generation process takes QUIC connection identifiers and generates content encryption keys, serving as a bridge that enables secure content delivery without requiring direct integration of the two authorities. The intermediary key generation simplifies the relationship between TLS and DRM systems while maintaining security.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Productivity

If multiple independent data streams are multiplexed over QUIC, then data transmission efficiency is improved, but binding content to specific streams becomes more complex

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata transmission efficiencyVSAvoidcontent binding complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies segmentation by generating separate cryptographic keys for each QUIC stream based on stream identifiers. This allows content to be bound to specific streams within the multiplexed connection, maintaining the efficiency of multiple independent data streams while enabling precise content binding. Each stream receives appropriate cryptographic protection independent of other streams, simplifying the binding process compared to connection-level binding.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP4228208A1Cryptographic binding of data to network transport
Publication Date: 2023.08.16 NBCUNIVERSAL MEDIA LLC
  • EP4228208A1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP4228208A1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP4228208A1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

According to one embodiment, a method of cryptographically binding content to a QUIC connection is performed by a first device. The method includes: generating a key based on at least one identifier corresponding to the QUIC connection; encrypting the content using the key based on the at least one identifier corresponding to the QUIC connection; and providing the encrypted content for transmission to a second device over the QUIC connection.