Local Router Multicast Access Control via Content Distribution Map
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing IP multicast techniques for delivering content in a multicast environment face challenges due to business and regulatory restrictions, such as blackouts, where users may circumvent access restrictions, and known solutions like encryption are less than satisfactory.
Innovation Solution
A local router in a packet data network stores a content distribution map specifying permitted multicast groups, receiving user device communications to determine if requested multicast groups are permitted, and only sends membership requests and data for authorized groups, preventing unauthorized access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If IP multicast techniques are used to deliver programming, then content delivery efficiency is improved, but users in blacked-out regions can potentially circumvent blackout restrictions by seeking to join the multicast group
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a cable modem as an intermediary device between the user and the multicast network. The cable modem acts as a mediator that receives user requests to join multicast groups, validates them against a content distribution map, and only permits joining if the content is authorized for that user's region. This intermediary layer maintains multicast efficiency while enforcing blackout restrictions.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary validation of user authorization before allowing multicast group joining. The content distribution map is pre-configured with regional restrictions, and the cable modem checks user eligibility in advance of content delivery, preventing unauthorized access before it can occur.
2Reliability
If encryption is used to prevent unauthorized access to content, then blackout restriction enforcement is improved, but user experience and content accessibility are degraded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the authorization validation function from the content delivery path and places it at the network access layer (cable modem). Instead of encrypting the content itself, the system extracts and enforces access control at the point of network connection, allowing authorized users to access content without encryption overhead while blocking unauthorized access at the source.
Solution Approach 2:
The cable modem serves as an intermediary that enforces access restrictions without requiring content encryption. It mediates between user requests and multicast content delivery, providing a cleaner solution that maintains content accessibility for authorized users while preventing unauthorized access.
Data Source
AI summary
A local router stores a content distribution map that specifies a plurality of permitted multicast groups. The local router receives communications from user devices on an access-network side of the local router. Those received communications identify multicast groups for which user devices wish to receive data. The local router ascertains if those identified multicast groups are permitted multicast groups specified by the stored content distribution map. For multicast groups ascertained to be permitted multicast groups, the local router sends communications across a network-side interface requesting membership in those multicast groups. The local router may then receive data for those multicast groups and forward that data to user devices. For multicast groups identified in user device communications ascertained not to be permitted multicast groups, the local router sends no communications across the network-side interface requesting membership.