Patent Abstract:
Partial pre-encryption with network-based packet sorting. A video-on-demand (VOD) delivery system for delivering encrypted transport streams to incumbent and overlay set-top boxes utilizes a packet picker/duplicator for sorting selected packets from non-selected packets, duplicating the selected packets, and encrypting one of the pair of duplicated selected packets according to an incumbent encryption scheme. A VOD file server stores the transport stream from the packet picker/duplicator. A network sorter sorts the unencrypted selected packet from the non-selected packets and the encrypted selected packet. The network sorter also sorts the encrypted selected packet from the non-selected packets and encrypts the unencrypted selected packets and the non-selected packets according to an overlay encryption scheme and then sends the transport stream to an overlay set-top box. The network sorter is also responsible for combining the non-selected packets and the incumbent encrypted packets and to send the transport stream to an incumbent set-top box.

Full Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to conditional access systems used to control availability of video on demand (VOD) programming in content delivery systems and, more particularly, relates to providing dual encryption to permit different proprietary set-tops to be utilized in a single cable television system.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Video on demand (VOD) services allow a set-top box user in a communications system, such as a cable television system, to request various media services from an operator. The requested media or presentations, such as movies, etc., are then provided to the user&#39;s set-top box. For conventional VOD systems, a VOD client running inside a set-top box issues requests using quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) or other known methods. These requests are conveyed through a hybrid fiber-coaxial (HFC) network to a VOD file server which processes the request. The VOD server packages the requested presentation using quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) or other known methods and transmits the requested programming back to the VOD client through the HFC network. The VOD client, upon receiving the presentation, demodulates the presentation and plays it for the set-top box user. If the set-top box contains a personal video recorder (PVR), the VOD client demodulates the presentation and saves it to a hard drive in the set-top box for future play.  
         [0003]     The control of content is important in order to protect programming from, for example, nonpaying customers. A conventional communications system, such as a cable television system, therefore, typically applies an encryption scheme to digital television content in order to prevent unrestricted access. Once a system operator chooses an encryption scheme, the operator installs all of the necessary headend equipment (e.g., Scientific-Atlanta&#39;s conditional access software and associated equipment). The receiving devices (e.g., set-tops) located at the subscriber&#39;s premises must be compatible with the encryption scheme in order to decrypt the content for viewing. Due to the (at least partial) proprietary nature of conditional access systems, however, an operator is prevented from installing different set-tops that do not have the proper decryption keys and decryption algorithms. If the operator wishes to install different set-tops that decrypt a different conditional access system, the operator would also have to install a second proprietary encryption system to overlay the incumbent encryption system in order to use both set-tops.  
         [0004]     It would be to the operator&#39;s advantage to be able to select set-tops from any manufacturer and easily implement different encryption/decryption schemes in the system without totally duplicating the headend equipment and utilizing substantially extra bandwidth. For example, a portion, but not all, of the data required for full presentation of a video on demand (VOD) program is encrypted according to one encryption scheme and the remaining data is transmitted in the clear to minimize the bandwidth impact. All of the data required for the full presentation or a portion of the data can be encrypted according to a second encryption scheme. The remaining data, if any, is transmitted in the clear to minimize the bandwidth impact.  
         [0005]     Because of the increasing number of customers utilizing VOD services, there is a continuous need for additional resources, such as storage space and bandwidth. The present invention helps to conserve resources by reducing the amount of storage space required on the VOD file server per presentation and minimizing the bandwidth needed to deliver the desired presentation to the user. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]      FIG. 1  illustrates a VOD delivery system method.  
         [0007]      FIG. 2  illustrates a packet picker/duplicator, which is part of the VOD system.  
         [0008]      FIG. 3  illustrates an alternate embodiment of the packet picker/duplicator of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0009]      FIG. 4A  illustrates a packet marked by transport scrambling control (TSC) in the packet picker/duplicator of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0010]      FIG. 4B  illustrates a packet marked by the continuity count in the packet picker/duplicator of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0011]      FIGS. 4C-4D  illustrate a packet marked by PIDs in the packet picker/duplicator of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  illustrates a network sorter, which is part of the VOD system.  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  illustrates an alternative embodiment of a network sorter of  FIG. 5 .  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  illustrates an alternative embodiment of a network sorter of  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0015]     The present invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like elements throughout the several figures, and in which an exemplary embodiment of the invention is shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, the embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. The present invention is described more fully herein below.  
         [0016]      FIG. 1  illustrates a VOD delivery system including the pre-encryption phase  100  and the playout phase  150  depicted on opposite sides of a broken line used to distinguish between non-real-time and real-time. The pre-encryption phase  100  occurs in the incumbent conditional access system. A clear transport stream  102  includes several streams of unencrypted programs each including video, audio, and/or data packets. The transport stream  102  has both selected packets  104  and non-selected packets  106 . Various known methods such as time slicing, M TH  &amp; N packet encryption, data structure encryption, or system information (SI) encryption are used to select the portions of the transport stream as selected, or critical, packets to be encrypted. Selected packets are chosen for encryption based upon their importance to the proper decoding of the program content. For example, in MPEG content streams, selected packets are preferably packets containing higher-level headers such as picture headers, GOP headers, etc.  
         [0017]     The transport stream  102  is received by a packet picker/duplicator  108  of the VOD system.  FIG. 2  illustrates a process  200  for the operation of the packet picker/duplicator  108  for receiving the transport stream  102 . The packet picker/duplicator  108  takes in the transport stream  102 , and at decision block  210  separates out the selected packets  104  to follow the “yes” branch and the non-selected packets  106  to follow the “no” branch. In the “yes” branch, the selected packets  104  are duplicated at process block  220  to define a pair of duplicate selected packets  104 . A packet  112  of the pair of selected packets  104  is marked for encryption at process block  230  for the incumbent encryption scheme.  
         [0018]     There are at least two methods for marking the selected packet  112  to be encrypted. The first uses transport scrambling control (TSC) bits. The selected packet  112  to be encrypted will have a value other than 00. The second method for marking selected packet  112  creates a separate file that lists which particular packets are to be encrypted. However, the selected packets  112  may be marked for encryption in other ways that allow the selected packets  112  to be encrypted and distinguished from non-selected packets  106 .  
         [0019]     The marked selected packet  112  of the pair of duplicate packets  104  is then merged with the non-selected packets  106  of the “no” branch in process block  240  and sent to the incumbent encryptor  110  as shown in process block  250 . The marked selected packet  112  is encrypted with the incumbent encryption scheme. The unmarked selected packet  104 , the non-selected packets  106 , and the encrypted selected packet  112  are then synchronized and merged as shown in step  260 .  FIG. 1  shows a transport stream  114  of unmarked selected packets  104 , non-selected packets  106 , and encrypted selected packets  112  being sent to the VOD file server  152 . Therefore, rather than having two separate complete copies of the transport stream, the VOD file server  152  of the present invention instead includes only one complete copy of the transport stream  114  made up of selected packets  104  and non-selected packets  106  to be transmitted to the overlay set-top box, plus encrypted selected packets  112  which would be used in combination with the same non-selected packets  106  (used in combination with selected packets  104 ) to be transmitted to the incumbent set-top box.  
         [0020]      FIG. 3  illustrates an alternate embodiment of a process  300  of an alternate packet picket/duplicator. In a manner similar to the packet picker/duplicator  108 , the packet picker/duplicator takes in the whole transport stream  102 , and at decision block  310  separates out the selected packets  104  to follow the “yes” branch and the non-selected packets  106  to follow the “no” branch. In the “yes” branch, the selected packets  104  are duplicated at process block  320  to define a pair of duplicate packets  104 . In this embodiment, however, the selected packets  112  of the pair of duplicate selected packets is not marked. Selected packets  112  are then sent to the incumbent encryptor  110  as shown in process block  330 . The unencrypted selected packets  104 , the encrypted selected packets  112 , and the non-selected packets  106  from the “no” branch are then synchronized and merged in step  340  into transport stream  114  as shown in step  340 . The transport stream  114  is sent to the VOD file server  152 .  
         [0021]     Referring back to  FIG. 1 , the transport stream  114  now contains clear selected packets  104 , non-selected packets  106 , and encrypted selected packets  112 . It is desirable to know the location of each packet in the transport stream  114 , especially the clear selected packets  104 . There are at least four methods that will allow identification of the clear selected packets  104  within the transport stream  114 .  
         [0022]     FIGS.  4 A-D illustrate various methods of identifying clear selected packets  104 . The stream of packets may be in any order. In these examples, the duplicate selected packets  104 , 112  will follow each other in sequence with the encrypted selected packet  112  coming after a corresponding selected packet  104 . Also, in each of these examples, the third packet in the transport stream  114  is the clear selected packet  104  and the fourth is the encrypted selected packet  112 .  FIG. 4A  illustrates, in particular, a method using transport scrambling control (TSC) bits. The clear packets, both selected  104  and non-selected packets  106 , have a TSC of 00. However, the fourth packet, the encrypted selected packet  112 , has a value of something other than 00, which occurred in the marking step  230  of  FIG. 2 . Therefore, the location of the clear selected packet  104  can be determined, to permit the subsequent filtering described below, because it immediately precedes the encrypted selected packet  112 .  
         [0023]     An alternate method of marking encrypted packets is illustrated in  FIG. 4B . In this example, the two selected packets  104 ,  112  will have the same continuity count. Therefore, the location of the clear selected packet  104  can again be determined because it immediately precedes the packet without an incremented continuity count.  
         [0024]     Another method of marking the transport packets is using packet identifiers (PIDs). The following two examples would require the synchronize and merge step  260  in  FIG. 2  to also perform PID remapping.  FIG. 4C  illustrates five packets where the non-selected packets  106  have the same PID, such as PID A in this case. The clear selected packet  104  has PID B and the encrypted selected packet  112  has PID C. The clear selected packets  104  and encrypted selected packets  112  may be distinguished from non-selected packets  106  as well as each other because each type of packet has a different PID value.  
         [0025]      FIG. 4D  illustrates the clear packets, both selected  104  and non-selected  106 , having the same PID, such as PID A. The encrypted selected packet  112  has PID B. Because only the encrypted selected packet  112  has PID B, the location of the clear selected packet  104  can be determined because it immediately precedes the encrypted selected packet  112 .  
         [0026]     Referring back to  FIG. 1 , the transport stream  114  can be seen leaving the packet picker/duplicator  108  now containing clear selected packets  104 , non-selected packets  106 , and encrypted selected packets  112 . Because there is duplication of some packets, resulting in packets  104  and  112 , the bandwidth is over 100%, but less than 200%, and is preferably between approximately 102% and 105% of its original size. The transport stream  114  is then sent to the VOD file server  152 .  
         [0027]     Therefore, by using partial encryption for saving content on the VOD file server  152 , less material has to be saved on the VOD file server  152 . Previously, two whole copies of each presentation were stored and depending on the type of set-top requesting the presentation, the appropriately encrypted presentation was sent. The current invention necessitates storage space for one copy of the transport stream made up of clear selected packets  104  and non-selected packets  106  to be transmitted to the overlay set-top box plus encrypted selected packets  112 , which are encrypted duplicates of selected packets  104 , that will be used in combination with non-selected packets  106  to be transmitted to the incumbent set-top box. Therefore, the VOD file server  152  has to store only a small number of duplicated packets, preferably fewer than 5% of the packets. This greatly decreases the amount of storage space required on the VOD file server  152 . Also, because the VOD file server  152  has a copy of the entire presentation in the clear the VOD file server  152  is allowed to process the presentation and create indexes or separate files to enable trick mode functions (i.e. fast forward, pause, rewind).  
         [0028]      FIG. 5  illustrates the process  500  of a network sorter within the gigabit quadrature amplitude modulator (GQAM)  154 , seen in  FIG. 1 . The network sorter is responsible for restoring the bandwidth back to 100% for each transport stream to either the incumbent or overlay set-top box. When a user chooses a particular presentation, the corresponding transport stream  114  is sent from the VOD file server  152  to the network sorter within the GQAM  154 . When the transport stream  114  enters the network sorter, the clear selected packets  104  are sorted from the transport stream  114 , as seen in step  510 , and then sent to the “yes” branch. As explained above, process block  510  utilizes scrambling control (TSC) bits or the continuity count as described in  FIGS. 4A-4B  to locate the clear selected packets  104 . Depending on the identifying method, the clear selected packet  104  may either immediately precede a packet have a TSC value other than  00  or immediately precede the packet without an incremented continuity count. The clear selected packets  104  and non-selected packets  106 , which have been sorted in steps  510  and  520 , respectively, are then combined and encrypted with the overlay encryption scheme as shown in process block  530 . The transport stream  156 , seen in  FIG. 1 , can be up to 100% encrypted with the overlay encryption scheme and the necessary bandwidth remains 100%. The transport stream  156  may be sent to an overlay set-top box  158  as shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0029]     In step  510 , the network sorter also sorts the non-selected packets  106  and the encrypted selected packets  112  from the clear selected packets  104 . The non-selected packets  106  and the encrypted selected packets  112  follow the “no” branch. In step  520 , the encrypted selected packets  112  are then sorted from the non-selected packets  106  and sent to the “yes” branch. The process block  540  combines the encrypted selected packets  112  and non-selected packets  106 , from the “no” branch to from a transport stream  160 , as seen in  FIG. 1 . Therefore, the transport stream  160 , containing only a small percentage of incumbent scheme encrypted packets  112  and a large percentage of non-selected packets  106 , is sent to an incumbent set-top box  162  in  FIG. 1 . The transport stream  160  is only partially encrypted and the necessary bandwidth remains 100%.  
         [0030]      FIG. 6  illustrates an alternate embodiment of a process  600  of an alternate network sorter within the GQAM  154 , as seen in  FIG. 1 . When a user chooses a particular presentation, the corresponding transport stream  114  is sent from the VOD file server  152  to the network sorter within the GQAM  154 . When, the transport stream  114  enters the network sorter, the clear selected packets  104  are sorted from the transport stream  114 , as shown in step  610 , and then sent to the “yes” branch. Process block  610  utilizes the difference in PID values as described in  FIG. 4C  to locate the clear selected packets  104 , which has a PID value of B. The clear selected packets  104  and non-selected packets  106 , which have been sorted in steps  610  and  620 , respectively, are then combined and encrypted with the overlay encryption scheme as shown in process block  630 . The encrypted non-selected packets  106  and the encrypted selected packets  104  are then sent to a PID remapper in process block  640 . This ensures that all of the packets in the stream will have the same PID value. The transport stream  156 , seen in  FIG. 1 , can be up to 100% encrypted with the overlay encryption scheme and the necessary bandwidth remains 100%. The transport stream  156  may be sent to an overlay set-top box  158  in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0031]     In step  610 , the non-selected packets  106  and the encrypted selected packets  112  are sorted from the clear selected packets  104  and then follow the “no” branch. In step  620 , the encrypted selected packets  112  are sorted from the non-selected packets  106  and sent to the “yes” branch. The process block  650  combines the encrypted selected packets  112  and non-selected packets  106 , from the “no” branch in process block  620 . The packets are then sent to a PID remapper in process block  660 . This ensures that all of the packets in the stream will have the same PID value. The transport stream  160 , as seen in  FIG. 1 , containing only a small percentage of incumbent scheme encrypted packets  112  and a large percentage of non-selected packets  106 , is sent to an incumbent set-top box  162  in  FIG. 1 . Therefore, the transport stream  160  is only partially encrypted and the necessary bandwidth remains 100%. The network sorter, while restoring the bandwidth back to 100%, ensures all the packets in the transport stream have the same PID value.  
         [0032]      FIG. 7  illustrates an alternate embodiment of a process  700  of another alternate network sorter within the GQAM  154 , as seen in  FIG. 1 . When a user chooses a particular presentation, the corresponding transport stream  114  is sent from the VOD file server  152  to the network sorter within the GQAM  154 . When the transport stream  114  enters the network sorter, the clear selected packets  104  are sorted from the transport stream  114 , as shown in step  710 , and then sent to the “yes” branch. Process block  710  utilizes the difference in PID values as described in  FIG. 4D  to locate the clear selected packets  104 . Because only the PID for the encrypted selected packet  112  has a different PID, the location of the clear selected packet  104  can be determined because it immediately precedes the encrypted selected packet  112 . The clear selected packets  104  and non-selected packets  106 , which have been sorted in steps  710  and  720 , respectively, are then combined and encrypted with the overlay encryption scheme as shown in process block  730 . Because the non-selected packets  106  and the clear selected packets  104  all had the same PID value, PID A, there is no need for PID remapping. The transport stream  156 , as seen in  FIG. 1 , can be up to 100% encrypted with the overlay encryption scheme and the necessary bandwidth remains 100%. The transport stream  156  may be sent to an overlay set-top box  158  in FIG.  
         [0033]     In step  710 , the encrypted selected packets  112  and non-selected packets  106  are sorted from the clear selected packets  104  and then the packets follow the “no” branch. In step  720 , the encrypted selected packets  112  are sorted from the non-selected packets  106  and follow the “yes” branch. The process block  740  combines the encrypted selected packets  112  and non-selected packets  106 , from the “no” branch in process block  720 . The packets are then sent to a PID remapper in process block  750 . This ensures that all of the packets in the stream will have the same PID value. Therefore, the transport stream  160 , as seen in  FIG. 1 , containing only a small percentage of incumbent scheme encrypted packets  112  and a large percentage of non-selected packets  106 , is sent to an incumbent set-top box  162  in  FIG. 1 . The transport stream  160  is only partially encrypted and the necessary bandwidth remains 100%.  
         [0034]     The combination of a packet picker/duplicator in conjunction with the network sorter in a VOD file system helps save bandwidth and allow more efficient use of the storage space in the VOD file server. The network sorter is used to determine the correct encryption needed for the requesting set-top box and to send only the corresponding encrypted presentation. This allows the necessary bandwidth to remain at 100% unlike other overlay systems. The foregoing has broadly outlined some of the more pertinent aspects and features of the present invention. These should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the invention. Other beneficial results can be obtained by applying the disclosed information in a different manner or by modifying the disclosed embodiments. Accordingly, other aspects and a more comprehensive understanding of the invention may be obtained by referring to the detailed description of the exemplary embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 7