Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
  • H04L63/10—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for controlling access to devices or network resources
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING OR CALCULATING; COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F21/00—Security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorised activity
  • G06F21/10—Protecting distributed programs or content, e.g. vending or licensing of copyrighted material ; Digital rights management [DRM]
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
  • H04L67/01—Protocols
  • H04L67/06—Protocols specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
  • H04L67/34—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications involving the movement of software or configuration parameters 
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
  • H04L69/18—Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/80—Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
  • H04N21/81—Monomedia components thereof
  • H04N21/8166—Monomedia components thereof involving executable data, e.g. software
  • H04N21/8193—Monomedia components thereof involving executable data, e.g. software dedicated tools, e.g. video decoder software or IPMP tool
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04N—PICTORIAL COMMUNICATION, e.g. TELEVISION
  • H04N21/00—Selective content distribution, e.g. interactive television or video on demand [VOD]
  • H04N21/80—Generation or processing of content or additional data by content creator independently of the distribution process; Content per se
  • H04N21/83—Generation or processing of protective or descriptive data associated with content; Content structuring
  • H04N21/835—Generation of protective data, e.g. certificates
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L2463/00—Additional details relating to network architectures or network communication protocols for network security covered by H04L63/00
  • H04L2463/101—Additional details relating to network architectures or network communication protocols for network security covered by H04L63/00 applying security measures for digital rights management

Definitions

• This invention relates generally to a downloaded media protocol integration system and method and in particular to a system and method for permitting any media player to play media having different protocols.
• DRMs digital rights managers
• CODECs encoders/decoders
• different protocols different protocols
• MPEG 2 and MPEG 4 protocols video typically
• MP3 protocol for audio music
• CODECs and DRMs a single media player may not be able to play all of the different types of media since any single player does not have the necessary DRMs and or CODECs to play all of the different types of media.
• an MP3 audio player is only able to play media encoded using the MP3 protocol, but may not be able to play media encoded using the MPEG-4 protocol or any other protocol. Therefore, each current media player has a limited usefulness and a limited amount of media that can be played on the media player.
• protocol integration system that permits any typical media player to play media having a variety of different DRMs and CODECs.
• the protocol integration system in accordance with the invention would make each media player more useful since each media player would not longer be limited to only playing media that is designed specifically for the particular media player. Thus, it is desirable
• the downloaded media protocol integration system in accordance with the invention overcomes the problem that there are typically various different digital rights managers (DRMs) and encoders/decoders (CODECs) associated with different downloadable media. Therefore, with the variety of different CODECs and DRMs, a single media player may not be able to play all of the different media. For example, an MP3 player may be able to play media encoded using the MP3 protocol, but may not be able to play media encoded using MPEG-4.
• the protocol integration system in accordance with the invention may, when downloading media to a player, determine the CODECs/DRMs (collectively "protocols") currently supported by the particular player.
• any media player may play any type of media regardless of the CODEC or DRM being used.
• a typical computer may interrogate a player connected to it to ensure the appropriate CODEC and DRM are available on the player.
• a mini- component system may go to a particular web site to download the appropriate CODEC and DRM.
• a system for playing different media on a player wherein each piece of media has an associated protocol.
• the system downloads a piece of media having a particular protocol to the player and determines if the particular protocol is supported by the player when a piece of media Attorney Docket No. 2100653-995210
• the system then downloads the particular protocol to the player while downloading the piece of media so that the player plays the downloaded piece of media using the downloaded protocol.
• a method for playing different media on a player wherein each piece of media having an associated protocol.
• a request is received to download a piece of media having a particular protocol to the player and it is determined if the particular protocol is supported by the player before the piece of media is downloaded to the player. If the protocol is not supported, the particular protocol is downloaded to the player while downloading the piece of media so that the player plays the downloaded piece of media using the downloaded protocol.
• a server for managing one or more different pieces of media having different protocols receives a request to download a piece of media having a particular protocol to a player. Prior to downloading the media, the server determines if the particular protocol is supported by the player and, if the protocol for the media is not supported, downloads the particular protocol to the player while downloading the piece of media so that the player plays the downloaded piece of media using the downloaded protocol.
• Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a downloadable media system that may include a first embodiment of the downloaded media protocol integration system in accordance with the invention; Attorney Docket No. 2100653-995210
• FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating more details of the downloaded media protocol integration system in accordance with the invention.
• FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for downloaded media protocol integration in accordance with the invention.
• Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a mini-component media system that may include a second embodiment of the downloaded media protocol integration system in accordance with the invention.
• the invention is particularly applicable to downloading audio media and the protocols associated with the audio media and it is in this context that the invention will be described. It will be appreciated, however, that the system and method in accordance with the invention has greater utility, such as to various different types of media and to various different protocols applicable to the various different types of media, such as video media.
• the downloaded media protocol integration system in accordance with the invention overcomes the problem that there are typically various different digital rights managers (DRMs) and encoders/decoders (CODECs) associated with different downloadable media. Therefore, with the current variety of different CODECs and DRMs, a single media player may not be able to play all of the different media. For example, an MP3 player may be able to play media encoded using the MP3 protocol, but may not be able to play media encoded using MPEG-4.
• the protocol integration system in accordance with the invention may, when downloading media to a player, determine the CODECs/DRMs currently supported by the particular player. Then, if the player does not support the particular CODEC/DRM for the Attorney Docket No. 2100653-995210
• the CODEC/DRM for that media is also downloaded to the player at the same time as the media.
• any media player may play any type of media regardless of the CODEC or DRM being used.
• a typical computer may interrogate a player connected to it to ensure the appropriate CODEC and DRM are available on the player.
• a mini- component system may go to a particular web site to download the appropriate CODEC and DRM.
• FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a downloadable media system 10 that may include a first embodiment of the downloaded media protocol integration system in accordance with the invention.
• the system 10 may include a computer 12, such as a stand-alone personal computer or any other type of computer including a server, and a media player 14 connected to the computer 12 over a communications link or computer network 16 that may be a wire-based link or a wireless link.
• the computer 12 may include a central processing unit (CPU) 18, a memory 20, a download manager 22 and one or more input/output devices that permit a user to interact with the computer such as a keyboard 24 and a mouse 26 as shown.
• the download manager 22 may be a software application stored in the memory 20 and executed by the CPU 18.
• the CPU 18 controls the operation of the computer including the memory and the download manager.
• the memory 20 may store, among other things, one or more pieces of media (Media #1 - Media #N) and one or more different protocols (Protocol #1 - Protocol #N) wherein the protocols may include different DRMs and/or different CODECs.
• the computer may also Attorney Docket No. 2100653-995210
• a persistent storage device such as a hard disk drive, an optical disk drive, a CD-ROM or a tape drive, for permanently storing the one or more pieces of media, the one or more different protocols and the software used to implement the protocol integration system.
• the media player 14 may include a CPU 30, a memory 32, a decompressor 34 and an output device 36, such as a speaker or headphone jack that permits the user of the media player to listen to the downloaded media.
• the CPU 30 controls the operation of the media player and the decompressor decompresses the downloaded media using the appropriate protocol (e.g., CODEC or DRM) and outputs the decompressed media to the output device 36.
• the media player permits media to be downloaded from the computer and then played on the media player.
• the memory may store one or more pieces of media and the protocol that permits the media to be decompressed and played.
• the memory 32 of the media player 14 may include one or more pieces of media 40 along with the protocol software 42 for each piece of media.
• the protocol may include the CODEC and/or DRM necessary to decrypt/decode the media and play it over the output device 36.
• the media player 14 may download the required protocol from the computer 12 as needed as will be described in more detail with reference to Figure 3. Now, more details of the downloaded media protocol integration system will be described.
• FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating more details of the downloaded media protocol integration system 22 in accordance with the invention.
• the integration system 22 further comprises a downloader module 50 and a protocol determiner module 52 that operate to achieve the functions of the protocol integration system in accordance with the invention.
• the downloader 50 may, based on a request from the player 14 for a piece of media, download the media or the media Attorney Docket No. 2100653-995210
• the protocol determiner 52 may, either during the initial download of the media or later, determine whether the player 14 has the proper protocol in order to decrypt and decode the media. If the player has the appropriate protocol, the protocol determiner does not take any further action. If the player 14 does not have the appropriate protocol for the media, the protocol determiner may retrieve the appropriate protocol from the memory 20 and download it to the player 14 along with the media so that the player 14 may decode and decrypt the media and play it.
• FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method 60 for downloaded media protocol integration in accordance with the invention.
• the player may request a piece of media from the computer.
• the computer may issue a protocol determination request to the player so that the computer can determine if the player supports the appropriate protocol to play the downloaded media as shown in step 66. If the player has the appropriate protocol for the piece of media to be downloaded, then the media is downloaded in step 68. If the player does not have the appropriate protocol to play the media, then in step 70, the computer downloads the media with the protocol to the player so that the player is able to play the media with the newly downloaded protocol.
• the computer determines if there are any more media requests in step 72 and loops back to step 64 to handle any more media requests. If there are no more media requests, then the method ends.
• the protocol integration system permits a single player to play many different types of media with many different types of protocols instead of having to use Attorney Docket No. 2100653-995210
• FIG 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a mini-component media system 80 that may include a second embodiment of the downloaded media protocol integration system in accordance with the invention.
• the system 80 may include a mini- component player 82 connected by a computer network or communications link 86, such as the Internet, to a server 84.
• the player 82 may further include a CPU 88, a memory 90, a decompressor 92, an output device 94, such as an audio speaker, and a download manager 96.
• the download manager 96 may control the download of media to the player 82.
• the memory 90 may store one or more pieces of media.
• the server 84 may determine the protocols resident in the memory of the player as described above and then, if the appropriate protocol is not present, download the protocol along with the media to the player over the computer network.
• the server 84 may include a CPU 100, a protocol manager 102 and a storage device 104 that may contain one more pieces of media and one or more associated protocols.
• the protocol manager 102 may perform the function to determining if the player has the appropriate protocol to play the requested media and then download the protocol with the media if necessary. In accordance with the invention, however, the player 82 may determine that it cannot play the piece of media and then request the necessary protocol from the server 84.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Signal Processing (AREA)
• Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
• Software Systems (AREA)
• Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Multimedia (AREA)
• Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
• Technology Law (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Computing Systems (AREA)
• Signal Processing For Digital Recording And Reproducing (AREA)
• Communication Control (AREA)

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• 2001
  • 2001-04-18 EP EP01928664A patent/EP1234247A2/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2001-04-18 AU AU2001255497A patent/AU2001255497A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2001-04-18 WO PCT/US2001/012765 patent/WO2001080472A2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2001-04-18 CA CA002377006A patent/CA2377006A1/en not_active Abandoned

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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