Standalone Media Player Secure Playback Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for protecting digitally-distributed media content on standalone players are cumbersome and costly, requiring network connectivity, secure clocks, and significant memory, which increases manufacturing expenses and restricts playback rights effectively.
Innovation Solution
A system that allows a standalone media player to store an encryption key and its associated identifier, enabling decryption of media content without network connectivity, using removable storage media to input configuration information and manage playback rights without specialized components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the player is networked to a server and contains a secure internal clock and dedicated memory, then rights management and content protection are improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the secure clock and dedicated memory components from the player device and relocates them to the server. The player only retains minimal configuration storage, while the server maintains the secure timestamp generator and key management infrastructure. This extraction resolves the contradiction by maintaining rights management reliability at the server level while simplifying the player device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The server infrastructure serves multiple functions: it acts as both the content delivery server and the secure timestamp authority. The same server that distributes media content also generates and manages the secure timestamps and encryption keys. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate dedicated secure components in the player, reducing device complexity while maintaining reliable rights management.
2Manufacturing precision
If a secure internal clock is added to the player, then expiration determination is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The secure timestamp generation function is extracted from the player and relocated to the server. The player no longer requires a secure internal clock component, as all timestamping and expiration determination is performed by the server using its secure timestamp generator. This extraction eliminates the need for expensive secure clock hardware in mass-produced players while maintaining precise expiration determination through server-based timestamp verification.
3Reliability
If dedicated memory is increased in the player, then key storage is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The dedicated secure memory for key storage is extracted from the player and consolidated in the server. The server maintains the master encryption keys and configuration data in its secure memory infrastructure. The player only stores minimal configuration information temporarily, which is sufficient for operation but does not require expensive dedicated secure memory modules. This extraction reduces manufacturing costs while maintaining reliable key storage at the server level.
Solution Approach 2:
The server acts as an intermediary that manages all key storage and retrieval operations. Instead of each player requiring its own dedicated secure memory, the server serves as a centralized key management intermediary that provides key services to multiple players. This intermediary approach maintains reliable key storage while eliminating the need for expensive dedicated memory in each player device.
4Reliability
If the player requires network connection for key download, then content protection is improved, but ease of operation worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The configuration information including encryption keys and timestamps is obtained in advance by the user and stored on removable media before the player needs to operate. The player can then function offline by reading this pre-configured information from the removable media. This preliminary action resolves the contradiction by maintaining content protection through pre-obtained configuration while eliminating the operational requirement for continuous network connectivity.
Data Source
AI summary
A media player manages and controls rights to playback of media content by the media player, which stores, during a registration process in which the media player need not be connected to an external computing system, information used by the media player to control playback. A minimal amount of the media player's memory is used to store the information used to control playback.