Set-Top Box Content Monitoring via Deep Packet Inspection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Parents face difficulties in monitoring and controlling internet content accessed by children in home networks, as existing methods rely on hardware or software firewalls that are overly restrictive and lack real-time monitoring capabilities.
Innovation Solution
A set-top-box or television receiver is equipped with monitoring circuitry that performs deep packet inspection to identify and alert users to undesired content in real-time, using indicators overlaid on the display, and stores access data for later review, allowing for customizable lists of prohibited websites and file types.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If hardware or software firewalls are used to restrict content, then content control is achieved, but the system becomes overly restrictive and lacks real-time monitoring capabilities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a residential gateway as an intermediary device between the internet and user devices. This gateway performs deep packet inspection and content monitoring functions, acting as a mediator that can identify and alert about undesired content without requiring direct intervention on each user device. The gateway includes a content monitor that inspects data packets and generates alerts when prohibited content is detected, providing real-time monitoring capability while maintaining system-wide content control.
2Loss of information
If monitoring programs are used to track websites visited, then content tracking is achieved, but the monitoring only occurs after the event and requires significant computing resources
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by maintaining a pre-configured list of prohibited website addresses and file types before content access occurs. The content monitor in the residential gateway continuously compares incoming data packets against this pre-established prohibited content list, enabling real-time detection and alerting. This approach allows the system to proactively identify undesired content as it is accessed, rather than retrospectively analyzing past activity, thereby providing timely parental awareness without requiring post-event analysis.
3Ease of operation
If deep packet inspection is performed to identify undesired content, then real-time monitoring is achieved, but computing resources are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the content monitoring and deep packet inspection functions from individual user devices and centralizes them in the residential gateway. By placing the content monitor in the gateway, the system performs packet inspection at a centralized location where all internet traffic naturally passes through. This extraction approach enables real-time monitoring of all devices on the network without requiring computing resources on each endpoint device, distributing the processing burden to a single dedicated gateway device.
Data Source
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AI summary
A set-top-box 201 is provided for receiving broadcast media content and processing said content for presentation on a display. A processor 304 of the STB is configured to receive, from between a router circuit 205 and a modem circuit 203, data packets sent over a local network. The data packets are sent to or from a local internet connected user device 206 via the router as part of the local network. The processor is further configured to analyse the received data packets to determine whether they contain undesired content and, if so, to control the display to present an indicator containing at least one property of the detected undesired content. Because the STB is coupled to a display that tends to be the main display in a household, the indicator is more likely to be seen and acted on by a responsible party, thus parents will be more easily able to monitor the activity of their children when they use user devices to access the internet over a home network.