Token Authentication for Digital Content Access Control
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current systems fail to securely authenticate users and terminals for accessing multimedia content, allowing unauthorized sharing of subscriptions and requiring complex management systems, as they lack effective verification of access rights and limitations on the number of authorized terminals.
Innovation Solution
A token authentication method that determines a user's access context, verifies access rights, and generates a unique authentication token linked to both the terminal and network access context, ensuring only authorized users can access content from a limited number of terminals, with mechanisms to revoke tokens when the maximum limit is reached.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a simple password-based authorization system is used to allow access from multiple terminals, then ease of operation is improved, but security deteriorates because the password can be easily shared with people outside the household
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an authentication server as an intermediary between the user and the service provider. This server handles the complex verification of terminal identifiers and authorization checks, allowing the user interface to remain simple while security is enforced through the intermediary's backend processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical/password-based authorization system with an automated electronic authentication system. Instead of relying on users to manage passwords manually, the system uses automated verification of terminal identifiers (such as device IDs) through cryptographic authentication protocols, eliminating the need for users to handle sensitive password information.
2Reliability
If the number of authorized terminals is strictly limited to meet rights holder requirements, then security is improved, but device complexity increases due to the need to track and manage terminal additions and removals
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication server automatically manages the limited number of authorized terminals through self-service mechanisms. When a terminal attempts to authenticate, the server automatically checks whether the maximum number of terminals has been reached and either grants or denies access without requiring manual intervention from service operators or support staff.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary authentication checks before granting access to the service. The authentication server verifies terminal identifiers and checks authorization status in advance, preventing unauthorized access before it occurs rather than requiring post-access management or intervention.
3Ease of operation
If terminal authorization is managed without linking to household members, then ease of operation is improved, but security deteriorates because there is no link between the household and the registered terminals
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges terminal identification with user identification by requiring that terminal identifiers be associated with authenticated user credentials. The authentication server combines verification of the terminal's unique identifier with verification of the user's identity, creating a linked authorization model where both the user and terminal are verified together rather than independently.
Data Source
Figure 1a
Figure 1b
Figure 2
AI summary
The invention relates to a token authentication method for accessing a service from a terminal, characterized in that it comprises, upon receipt of a service access authorization request including at least one unique identifier of the terminal, steps of determining (201) a network access context of the terminal; of checking (202) the validity of the access rights to the service, including at least one verification of the access right associated with the network access context of the terminal; and in the event of valid access rights, of generating (203) a valid authentication token from the unique identifier of the terminal and the network access context, and of transmitting (204) the token to the terminal.