Patent Publication Number: US-9843379-B2

Title: Conditional access system for satellite outdoor unit

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/166,353, filed Jun. 22, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,989,083, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Appl. No. 61/447,969, filed Mar. 1, 2011, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of Invention 
     The present invention generally relates to an Outdoor Unit (ODU) of a satellite broadcast system. More specifically, the invention relates to a conditional access system for the ODU. 
     Related Art 
     A satellite broadcaster broadcasts an event, such as a sporting contest, a musical concert, a speech, a movie, a television sitcom, or a television reality show to provide some examples, to one or more end users for viewing using a satellite communications system. The satellite communications system typically includes one or more earth stations to provide video, audio, and/or data depicting the event as well as video, audio, and/or data depicting other events and/or services, such as satellite internet access to provide an example. The earth stations provide the video, audio, and/or data to one or more satellites for transmission to the one or more end users. The one or more end users typically receive transmission from the satellite using one or more satellite receiving antennas, commonly referred to as a satellite dish. The transmission received by the one or more satellite receiving antennas is converted by an outdoor unit (ODU) for transmission to one or more indoor units (IDUs). The one or more indoor units (IDUs) decode the transmission from the ODU for delivery to the one or more end users. 
     The satellite broadcaster typically employs a conventional conditional access system to restrict the delivery of the video, the audio, and/or the data to unauthorized end users. Conventionally, these conventional conditional access systems are placed within the IDUs. However, if these conventional conditional access systems are compromised by the unauthorized end users, the satellite broadcaster is unable to restrict the delivery of the video, the audio, and/or the data. For example, the unauthorized end users may procure an unauthorized, yet functional, commonly referred to “pirated”, IDU to circumvent the conventional conditional access systems. In this situation the satellite broadcaster is unable to restrict the delivery of the video, the audio, and/or the data to the unauthorized end users. 
     Thus, there is a need for an apparatus and/or a method to restrict the delivery of the video, the audio, and/or the data to the unauthorized end users that overcomes the shortcomings described above. Further aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description that follows. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES 
       The accompanying drawings illustrate the present invention and, together with the description, further serve to explain the principles of the invention and to enable one skilled in the pertinent art to make and use the invention. 
         FIG. 1  illustrates a block diagram of a satellite communications environment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a block diagram of an outdoor unit (ODU) implemented as part of the satellite communications environment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a block diagram of a signal processing tuner implemented as part of the first ODU according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a block diagram of a network receiver implemented as part of the first ODU according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a block diagram of an outdoor unit (ODU) implemented as part of the satellite communications environment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the reference number. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The following Detailed Description refers to accompanying drawings to illustrate exemplary embodiments consistent with the invention. References in the Detailed Description to “one exemplary embodiment,” “an exemplary embodiment,” “an example exemplary embodiment,” etc., indicate that the exemplary embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every exemplary embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same exemplary embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an exemplary embodiment, it is within the knowledge of those skilled in the relevant art(s) to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other exemplary embodiments whether or not explicitly described. 
     The exemplary embodiments described herein are provided for illustrative purposes, and are not limiting. Other exemplary embodiments are possible, and modifications may be made to the exemplary embodiments within the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the Detailed Description is not meant to limit the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention is defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents. 
     Embodiments of the invention may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. Embodiments of the invention may also be implemented as instructions stored on a machine-readable medium, which may be read and executed by one or more processors. A machine-readable medium may include any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computing device). For example, a machine-readable medium may include read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; electrical, optical, acoustical or other forms of propagated signals (e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.), and others. Further, firmware, software, routines, instructions may be described herein as performing certain actions. However, it should be appreciated that such descriptions are merely for convenience and that such actions in fact result from computing devices, processors, controllers, or other devices executing the firmware, software, routines, instructions, etc. 
     The following Detailed Description of the exemplary embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the invention that others can, by applying knowledge of those skilled in relevant art(s), readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such exemplary embodiments, without undue experimentation, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, such adaptations and modifications are intended to be within the meaning and plurality of equivalents of the exemplary embodiments based upon the teaching and guidance presented herein. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, such that the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is to be interpreted by those skilled in relevant art(s) in light of the teachings herein. 
     Satellite Communications Environment According to an Exemplary Embodiment of the Present Invention 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a block diagram of a satellite communications environment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. A satellite communications environment  100  represents a direct broadcast satellite communications environment that directly broadcasts information, such as video, audio, and/or data, from one or more satellites to one or more end user devices. The satellite communication environment  100  includes satellites  102 . 1  through  102 . n , a satellite receiving antenna  104 , an outdoor unit (ODU)  106 , indoor units (IDUs)  108 . 1  through  108 . n , and end user devices  110 . 1  through  110 . n.    
     The satellites  102 . 1  through  102 . n  provide downlink communications signals  150 . 1  through  150 . n  to the satellite receiving antenna  104 . The downlink represents a first communications path from the satellites  102 . 1  through  102 . n  to the satellite receiving antenna  104 . An uplink represents a second communications path from an earth station (not shown in  FIG. 1 ) to the satellites  102 . 1  through  102 . n . The downlink communications signals  150 . 1  through  150 . n  may include information, such as video, audio, and/or data to provide some examples, that is received from the earth station via the uplink for transmission to the one or more end user devices  110 . For example, the video, the audio, and/or the data may include television, internet data, and/or other services to consumers. As another example, the video, the audio, and/or the data may additionally include control information for operation of the ODU  106 , the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n , and/or the end user devices  110 . 1  through  110 . n.    
     The satellites  102 . 1  through  102 . n  provide the downlink communications signals  150 . 1  through  150 . n  using an assigned frequency spectrum or band. As an example, satellites  102 . 1  through  102 . n  may transmit the downlink communications signals  150 . 1  through  150 . n  using the Ku frequency band from approximately 12.5 GHz to approximately 18.0 GHz, the K frequency band from approximately 18.0 GHz to approximately 25.5 GHz, the Ka frequency band from approximately 26.5 GHz to approximately 40.0 GHz or any other suitable frequency band that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Typically, the assigned frequency band is divided into n communications channels, whereby each of the satellites  102 . 1  through  102 . n  is assigned to transmit its respective downlink communications signal  150 . 1  through  150 . n  using one or more of the n communications channels. In an exemplary embodiment, the assigned frequency band is divided into communications channels having a fixed bandwidth of approximately 500 MHz with approximately 100 MHz spacing, commonly referred to as a guard band, between communications channels. 
     The assigned frequency spectrum, common referred to as in-band, may be used to transfer the control information from the earth station and/or the satellites  102 . 1  through  102 . n  to the ODU  106 , the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n , and/or the end user devices  110 . 1  through  110 . n . Alternatively, one or more communications channels outside of the assigned frequency spectrum, commonly referred to as out-of-band, may be used to transfer the control information. The control information may include control signals and/or information relating to the television, the internet data, and/or the other services for the end user devices  110 . 1  through  110 . n . The ODU  106  may use the control information to enable and/or disable communication entirely with one or more of the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n  or to control access to the television, the internet data, and/or the other services embedded within the one or more of the n communications channels to provide a conditional access system between the satellites  102 . 1  through  102 . n  and the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n . For example, the may use the control information to enable and/or disable communication entirely with one or more of the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n  or to limit or to restrict access to the television, the internet data, and/or the other services embedded within the one or more of the n communications channels to provide the conditional access system. 
     The satellite receiving antenna  104  observes the downlink communications signals  150 . 1  through  150 . n  within the assigned frequency spectrum to provide an observed communications signal  152 . The downlink communications signals  150 . 1  through  150 . n  may include information, such as video, audio, and/or data that is received from the earth station via the uplink for transmission to the one or more end user devices  110  and/or the control information. The satellite receiving antenna  104  may additionally observe the control information that is characterized as being out-of-band. The satellite receiving antenna  104  may be implemented as a parabolic antenna, commonly referred to as a dish, or as any other well known antenna that is capable of receiving the downlink communications signals  150 . 1  through  150 . n  that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Although not shown in  FIG. 1 , the satellite communications environment  100  may use multiple satellite receiving antennas  104  to observe the downlink communications signals  150 . 1  through  150 . n.    
     The ODU  106  provides an intermediary communications signal  154  based upon the observed communications signal  152 . The ODU  106  extracts one or more desired communications channels from among the n communications channels embedded within the observed communications signal  152 . The ODU  106  frequency translates one or more of the desired communications channels, or portions thereof, to an intermediate frequency band, such as approximately 950 MHz to 2150 MHz to provide an example, to provide the intermediary communications signal  154 . Optionally, the ODU  106  may demodulate the one or more of the desired communications channels, or the portions thereof, and remodulate these communications channels in a format different from the downlink communications signals  150 . 1  through  150 . n , such as Ethernet to provide an example. 
     The ODU  106  also receives the control information embedded within the observed communications signal  152  and/or the control information that is characterized as being out-of-band. The ODU  106  may enable and/or disable communication entirely with one or more of the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n  in response to the control information. Alternatively, the ODU  106  may disable and/or enable one or more of the multiple signal processing tuners to control access to one or more of the desired communication channels to provide the conditional access system. 
     The IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n  decode the intermediary communications signal  154  to provide recovered communications channels  156 . 1  through  156 . n . The IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n  extract the one or more desired communications channels from among the n communications channels embedded within the recovered communications channels  156 . 1  through  156 . n . The IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n  parse and/or deliver the information, such as the video, the audio, and/or the data to provide some examples, that is received from the one or more desired communications channels embedded within the intermediary communications signal  154 . 
     The end user devices  110 . 1  through  110 . n  may include televisions, monitors, personal computers, data terminal equipment, telephony devices, mobile communication devices, broadband media players, personal digital assistants, software applications, or any other device that is capable of utilizing the video, the audio, and/or the data embedded within the recovered communications channels  156 . 1  through  156 . 
     A First Outdoor Unit (ODU) According to an Exemplary Embodiment of the Present Invention 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a block diagram of an outdoor unit (ODU) implemented as part of the satellite communications environment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. An ODU  200  selects one or more of desired communications channels, or portions thereof, from among the n communications channels embedded within the observed communications signal  152 . The ODU  200  may receive control information for operation of the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n  and/or the end user devices  110 . 1  through  110 . n . The ODU  200  may use the control information to enable and/or disable communication entirely with one or more of the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n  or to control access to the television, the internet data, and/or the other services embedded within the one or more of the n communications channels to provide a conditional access system between the satellites  102 . 1  through  102 . n  and the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n . The ODU  200  includes a frequency translation module  202 , a network receiver  204 , and a control module  206 . The ODU  200  may represent an exemplary embodiment of the ODU  106 . 
     The frequency translation module  202  includes signal processing modules  208 . 1  through  208 . i  and a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) module  210 . The signal processing modules  208 . 1  through  208 . i  determine one or more desired communications channels from among the n communications channels embedded within the observed communications signal  152  to provide intermediate frequency bands  252 . 1  through  252 . i . The signal processing modules  208 . 1  through  208 . i  include signal processing tuners  212 . 1  through  212 . m  and a combination module  214 . Each of the signal processing modules  208 . 1  through  208 . i  are implemented in a substantially similar manner; however, the signal processing modules  208 . 1  through  208 . i  may include a different number of the signal processing tuners  212 . 1  through  212 . m.    
     The signal processing tuners  212 . 1  through  212 . m  filter one or more unwanted communications channels from among the n communications channels embedded within the observed communications signal  152  leaving the one or more desired communications channels from among the n communications channels. The one or more desired communications channels for signal processing tuners  212 . 1  through  212 . m  may be similar desired communications channels or dissimilar desired communications channels. The signal processing tuners  212 . 1  through  212 . m  frequency translate the one or more desired communications channels to an intermediate frequency to provide translated communications channels  254 . 1  through  254 . m . The combination module  214  combines the translated communications channels  254 . 1  through  254 . m  to provide the intermediate frequency band  252 . 1 . 
     In an exemplary embodiment, the signal processing modules  208 . 1  through  208 . i  include three signal processing tuners  212 . 1  through  212 . 3 . In this exemplary embodiment, each of the signal processing tuners  212 . 1  through  212 . 3  frequency translate a single desired communications channel from among the n communications channels embedded within the observed communications signal  152  which are then combined to form a triple stacked communication signal. In another exemplary embodiment, the ODU  200  includes five signal processing modules  208 . 1  through  208 . 5 , each of the signal processing modules  208 . 1  through  208 . 5  providing the triple stacked communication signal for a total of fifteen desired communications channels from among the n communications channels as the intermediate frequency bands  252 . 1  through  252 . i.    
     The FDMA module  210  translates one or more of the desired communications channels, or portions thereof, from the among the intermediate frequency bands  252 . 1  through  252 . i  to a particular frequency band that may be decoded by one or more of the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n.    
     The frequency translation module  202  is further described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/337,046, filed on Dec. 17, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,224,274, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     The network receiver  204  extracts the control information that is embedded within the observed communications signal  152  and/or from an out-of-band communications channel  250 . The network receiver  204  frequency translates the control information to baseband or any suitable intermediate frequency, demodulates the control information, and/or decodes the control information to provide received control information  256 . 
     The control module  206  provides control signals  258  based upon the received control information  256 . The control module  206  may use the control information to enable and/or disable communication entirely with one or more of the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n  or to control access to the television, the internet data, and/or the other services embedded within the one or more of the n communications channels embedded within the observed communications signal  152  to provide a conditional access system between the satellites  102 . 1  through  102 . n  and the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n . The control signals  258  may be used to enable and/or disable the signal processing modules  208 . 1  through  208 . i , along with their respective signal processing tuners  212 . 1  through  212 . m , and/or the FDMA module  210 . For example, the control signals  258  may disable one or more of the signal processing tuners  212 . 1  through  212 . m  from the signal processing module  208 . 1  such that their respective translated communications channels  254 . 1  through  254 . m  are no longer provided to the combination module  214 . As another example, the control signals  258  may disable the signal processing module  208 . 1 , in its entirety, such that the intermediate frequency band  252 . 1  is no longer provided to the FDMA module  210 . As a further example, the control signals  258  may disable the FDMA module  210  such that the intermediary communications signal  154  is no longer provided to the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n . As a yet further example, the control signals  258  may disable a portion of the FDMA module  210  such that one or more of the frequency bands  252 . 1  through  252 . i  are no longer provided to the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n  as part of the intermediary communications signal  154 . 
     In an exemplary embodiment, the control module  206  possesses a unique address that allows an earth station within a satellite communications environment to select the ODU  200  from among multiple other ODUs within the satellite communications environment. The earth station may independently control the ODU  200  in this environment to control access to unauthorized, yet functional, IDUs and/or end user devices within the satellite communications environment to provide additional security to the satellite communications environment. 
     In another exemplary embodiment, the frequency translation module  202  and/or the control module  206  may be controlled using firmware that is stored within each of these modules and/or the frequency translation module  202 . The ODU  202  may update this firmware via the control information that is embedded within the observed communications signal  152  and/or the out-of-band communications channel  250 . 
     Signal Processing Tuner Implemented as Part of the First ODU According to an Exemplary Embodiment of the Present Invention 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a block diagram of a signal processing tuner implemented as part of the first ODU according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. A signal processing tuner  300  filters one or more unwanted communications channels from among the n communications channels embedded within the observed communications signal  152  leaving one or more desired communications channels from among the n communications channels. The signal processing tuner  300  frequency translates the one or more desired communications channels to an intermediate frequency to provide a translated communications channels  350 . The signal processing tuner  300  includes an amplifier module  302 , a first bandpass filter module  304 , a mixing module  306 , and a second bandpass filter module  308 . The signal processing tuner  300  may represent an exemplary embodiment of one or more of the signal processing tuners  212 . 1  through  212 . m.    
     The amplifier module  302  amplifies the n communications channels embedded within the observed communications signal  152  to provide qn amplified communications signal  352 . 
     The first bandpass filter module  304  filters the amplified communications signal  352  to provide a filtered communications signal  354 . The first bandpass filter module  304  filters unwanted noise embedded within the amplified communications signal  352  and/or one or more unwanted communications channels from among the n communications channels embedded within the observed communications signal  152  to provide the filtered communications signal  354 . 
     The mixer module  306  frequency translates the filtered communications signal  354  using a local oscillator signal  552  to provide a translated communications signal  358 . The mixer module  306  may frequency translate the filtered communications signal  354  to approximately baseband or a suitable intermediate frequency (IF) that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) from the teachings herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     The second bandpass filter module  308  filters the translated communications signal  358  to provide the translated communications channels  350 . The translated communications channels  350  may represent an exemplary embodiment of one or more of the intermediate frequency bands  252 . 1  through  252 . i . The second bandpass filter module  308  filters unwanted noise embedded within the translated communications signal  358  and/or one or more unwanted communications channels from among the communications channels embedded within the translated communications signal  358  leaving one or more desired communications channels from among the n communications channels embedded within the observed communications signal  152 . 
     Network Receiver Implemented as Part of the First ODU According to an Exemplary Embodiment of the Present Invention 
       FIG. 4  illustrates a block diagram of a network receiver implemented as part of the first ODU according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. A network receiver  400  receives the control information that is embedded within the observed communications signal  152  and/or from an out-of-band communications channel  250 . The network receiver  400  frequency translates the control information to baseband or any suitable intermediate frequency, demodulates the control information, and/or decodes the control information to provide the received control information  256 . The network receiver  400  includes a front end module  402 , a demodulator module  404 , and a decoder module  406 . The network receiver  400  may represent an exemplary embodiment of the network receiver  402 . 
     The front end module  402  provides modulated control information  452  based upon received control information  450 . The received control information  450  may be embedded within the observed communications signal  152  and/or from the out-of-band communications channel  250 . 
     The front end module  402  may amplify the received control information  450 , convert the received control information  450  from an analog representation to a digital representation, frequency translate the received control information  450  to approximately baseband or a suitable intermediate frequency (IF) that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention, or perform any combination of these functions without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     The demodulator module  404  demodulates the modulated control information  452  using any suitable analog or digital demodulation technique for any suitable modulation technique such as amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), phase modulation (PM), phase shift keying (PSK), frequency shift keying (FSK), amplitude shift keying (ASK), quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and/or any other suitable demodulation technique that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention to provide encoded control information  454 . 
     The decoder module  406  decodes the encoded control information  454  using any suitable decoding scheme that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention to provide the received control information  256 . For example, the decoder module  406  may additional apply error correction decoding, such as block code decoding and/or convolution code decoding to provide some examples, to the encoded control information  454 . 
     A Second Outdoor Unit (ODU) According to an Exemplary Embodiment of the Present Invention 
       FIG. 5  illustrates a block diagram of an outdoor unit (ODU) implemented as part of the satellite communications environment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. An ODU  500  selects one or more of desired communications channels, or portions thereof, from among the n communications channels embedded within the observed communications signal  152 . The ODU  500  may receive control information for operation of the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n  and/or the end user devices  110 . 1  through  110 . n . The ODU  500  may use the control information to enable and/or disable communication entirely with one or more of the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n  or to control access to the television, the internet data, and/or the other services embedded within the one or more of the n communications channels to provide a conditional access system between the satellites  102 . 1  through  102 . n  and the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n . The ODU  500  includes the network receiver  204 , the control module  206 , and a frequency translation module  502 . The ODU  500  may represent an exemplary embodiment of the ODU  106 . 
     The frequency translation module  502  includes an analog signal converter  504 , channel selection devices  506 . 1  through  506 . m , a summation module  508 , and a digital to analog converter (DAC)  510 . The analog signal converter  504  converts the observed communications signal  152  from an analog representation to a digital representation to provide a digital communications signal  552 . The analog signal converter  504  may convert the n communications channels embedded within the observed communications signal  152  from the analog representation to the digital representation. Alternatively, the analog signal converter  504  may convert some of the n communications channels embedded within the observed communications signal  152  from the analog representation to the digital representation. The analog signal converter  504  may, optionally, filter the unwanted noise embedded within the observed communications signal  152  and/or one or more unwanted communications channels from among the n communications channels embedded within the observed communications signal  152 . 
     The channel selection devices  506 . 1  through  506 . m  process the digital communications signal  552  to provide desired communications channels  554 . 1  through  554 . m . The channel selection devices  506 . 1  through  506 . m  filter one or more unwanted communications channels from among the n communications channels embedded within the digital communications signal  552  leaving one or more desired communications channels from among the n communications channels. The channel selection devices  506 . 1  through  506 . m  frequency translate the one or more desired communications channels to an intermediate frequency to provide the desired communications channels  554 . 1  through  554 . m . The combination module  508  combines the desired communications channels  554 . 1  through  554 . m  to provide an intermediate frequency band  556 . 
     The DAC  510  converts the intermediate frequency band  556  from a digital representation to an analog representation to provide the intermediary communications signal  154 . 
     The frequency translation module  502  is further described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/337,046, filed on Dec. 17, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,224,274, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     The network receiver  204  extracts the control information that is embedded within the observed communications signal  152  and/or from an out-of-band communications channel  250  to provide the received control information  256 . Although not shown in  FIG. 5 , the control information may be alternatively extracted from the digital communications signal  552  and/or from the out-of-band communications channel  250  to provide the received control information  256 . 
     The control module  206  provides the control signals  258  based upon the received control information  256 . The control module  206  may use the control information to enable and/or disable communication entirely with one or more of the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n  or to control access to the television, the internet data, and/or the other services embedded within the one or more of the n communications channels embedded within the observed communications signal  152  to provide a conditional access system between the satellites  102 . 1  through  102 . n  and the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n . The control signals  258  may be used to enable and/or disable the analog signal converter  504 , the channel selection devices  506 . 1  through  506 . m , and/or the DAC  510 . For example, the control signals  258  may disable the analog signal converter  504  such that the digital communications signal  552  is no longer provided to the channel selection devices  506 . 1  through  506 . m . As another example, the control signals  258  may disable one or more of the channel selection devices  506 . 1  through  506 . m  such that their respective the desired communications channel  554 . 1  through  554 . m  is no longer provided to the combination module  508 . As a further example, the control signals  258  may disable the DAC  510  such that the intermediary communications signal  154  is no longer provided to the IDUs  108 . 1  through  108 . n.    
     CONCLUSION 
     While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example, and not limitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.