Abstract:
A method and apparatus for controlling access to programing that is available from multiple programming sources. One embodiment is an integrated terrestrial and satellite television system having a single password set such that a user can enter a single password to activate both satellite and terrestrial television components of the system.

Description:
This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. § 365 of International Application PCT/US00//18950, filed Jul. 12, 2000, which was published in accordance with PCT Article 21(2) on Jan. 25, 2001 in English; and which claims benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/143,923 filed Jul. 14, 1999. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
     The invention generally relates to a television receiver system. More particularly, the invention relates to password utilization in a television system capable of receiving signals from multiple sources. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     Traditionally, television viewers have used over-the-air or cable television (terrestrial television) as their primary source of programming. With the emergence of the widespread use of a V-chip and other digital television technologies that control access to programming, many terrestrial television systems are using passwords to limit the access to particular channels or to make service purchases (e.g., pay per view movies). In addition, some television viewers use satellite television systems to obtain various programs or channels from a satellite television provider. 
     Most satellite television systems utilize passwords for limiting the access to various content material and services. The access level is defined by the level of services to which a viewer has subscribed. To store passwords and facilitate access to the satellite television system, these satellite television systems comprise a satellite set top box (STB) having a smart card interface and an access card, i.e., a smart card. The passwords are used for limiting access to channel viewing lists, purchasing limits on pay per view data, viewing hours and ratings exception handling. In many instances, a television viewer has the capability, through separate systems, to receive both terrestrial and satellite television programming. As such, the viewer that owns a television comprising a V-chip and subscribes to satellite programs is required to use separate satellite system and terrestrial system passwords for accessing the respective satellite and terrestrial television programming. This dual password utilization is not consumer friendly. 
     Therefore, there is a need for dynamically linking the satellite and terrestrial password systems such that only the passwords from one of these television systems are utilized to enable access to both systems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
     The invention provides a method and apparatus for enabling conditional access to programming that is available from multiple sources of programming. One embodiment of the invention is an integrated terrestrial and satellite television system having a single password set such that a user can enter a single password to activate both satellite and terrestrial television components of the system. The integrated television system comprises both a terrestrial television receiver and a satellite television receiver. The terrestrial television receiver utilizes password access (terrestrial passwords) to programming in accordance with the use of a V-chip and the satellite receiver utilizes password access to satellite programming (satellite passwords). 
     The integrated password access is facilitated by a smart card and smart card interface. When no smart card is used or an incorrect smart card is used, the integrated system defaults to using the terrestrial television passwords to access terrestrial programming and no access to satellite programming are permitted. When a correct smart card is inserted into the integrated system, the master password of satellite television system overwrites the terrestrial password. As such, a single master password is now used to access both terrestrial television programming and satellite television programming. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         FIG. 1  depicts a high-level block diagram of an integrated television system; 
         FIG. 2A  depicts a password set of the satellite television system; 
         FIG. 2B  depicts a password set of the terrestrial television system; and 
         FIG. 3  depicts a flow chart of a routine for implementing a single password system. 
     
    
    
     To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  depicts a high-level block diagram of an integrated television system  100  that is capable of receiving television signals from a plurality of sources. The integrated television system  100  comprises an integrated receiver  102  for receiving and processing both terrestrial television signals and satellite television signals. As such, the system  100  receives signals from both a satellite antenna  106  and a terrestrial antenna  104 . The signals from the antennas  106  and  104  are separately processed respectively by a satellite television receiver  110  and a terrestrial television receiver  108 . The received signals from either source are displayed on a monitor  124  that may be “built-in” to the system  100  or may be separate device. If the monitor  124  is a separate device, then the integrated system  100  is generally referred to as a “set top box”. 
     The system  100  uses a single programming access process to facilitate selective access to programming from both the satellite television receiver  110  and a terrestrial television receiver  108 . Programming display is controlled by the computer  112  interacting with a smart card interface  120  and a smart card  122 . The computer  112  (a smart card interface controller) comprises a central progressing unit (CPU)  114 , a memory  116  and support circuits  118 . The CPU  114  is conventionally supported by the memory  116  and the support circuits  118 . The support circuits  118  are well known in the computer art as clocks, power supplies, cache, and the like. The memory  116  may be random access memory (RAM) and/or read only memory (ROM). In the context of password access, the smart card  122  comprises ROM  128  for storing passwords that are used in programming access. The passwords in ROM  128  are copied to RAM  116  within the computer  112  when the card is inserted into the interface  120 . 
     When the integrated television system  100  is shipped from the factory, a smart card is shipped with the system. To facilitate activation of a satellite television service, the card is “paired” with the integrated system  100 . To pair the card, the card is inserted into the interface and a signal is sent to the system via a satellite transmission. A unique serial number is then written to the ROM  128  in the card  122  to match a serial number for the integrated system  100  such that the paired card only operates with that particular system. 
     Each of the satellite and terrestrial television receivers  110  and  108  utilize separate passwords or “password sets.” At any given time, the system  100  may utilize the password set of either the satellite or terrestrial television receivers  108  and  110 . In one embodiment of the invention, the satellite television password access process overrides the password access process of the television receiver to allow a single password to control both the terrestrial and satellite programming access. 
     The television receiver  108  includes hardware that controls television programming access. One example of such hardware is a V-chip controller  126  but could also include other forms of conditional access such as cable television descrambling privileges. The V-chip controller  126  enables terrestrial programming access with respect to one or more user profiles or accounts. Each of these user profiles or accounts contain passwords (terrestrial passwords) for enabling access to particular content level of programming, for example, PG-13 rated channels or programs. 
     The terrestrial passwords that control access to programming using the V-chip controller  126  are stored within the television read only memory (ROM)  130  and are written to random access memory (RAM)  132  upon the television being activated. Alternatively, the television may utilize a smart card for storing the terrestrial passwords that are then written to the television&#39;s RAM upon insertion of the smart card into the television. These terrestrial passwords are used whenever a satellite smart card is not inserted into the system  100 . Upon receiving a terrestrial password for a corresponding user profile, the controller enables the integrated receiver  102  to display the terrestrial programming that is enabled under that particular user profile. 
     The integrated receiver  102  includes an interface  120  for receiving an access card or smart card  122 . The smart card  122  comprises a system specific code (system serial number) to activate a particular system  100  i.e., for discussion, the card is assumed to be paired with the system  100 . As such, the satellite receiver portion of the system  100  operates only after a paired smart card  110  is inserted into the interface  120 . Upon receipt of the smart card  110  and the user&#39;s entering a correct password, the satellite receiver  110  descrambles or enables the receipt of particular content via the satellite antenna  106 . The satellite receiver  110  is coupled to the monitor  124  for presenting the received content to a viewer. 
     The user profiles can be displayed on the monitor  124  as sub-screens to enable a user that enters a master password to initialize other user passwords. For example, a high definition television (HDTV) integrated system may have five user profiles, which includes one master profile and four sub-profiles. Each of the user profiles may have separate passwords. The passwords are cumulatively referred to as a password set. The terrestrial password profiles are stored in the ROM  130  while the satellite passwords are stored in the ROM  128 . 
     Restrictions on the sub-profiles for both terrestrial and satellite access are generally defined after entering the master password. Such restrictions may include access to limited channel viewing lists, purchase limits on pay per view material, limits on viewing hours and restrictions on material above a certain rating limit. In addition, the sub-profiles are optionally locked through the master profile. As such, each sub-profile includes a separate password and is defined or restricted through the master profile. 
       FIG. 2A  depicts a password set  200  for the satellite television receiver  110 . The password set  200  comprises a master password  202  and four sub-profile passwords  204   1 ,  204   2 ,  204   3  and  204   4 . Although four sub-profile passwords are depicted, the password set  200  may comprise any number of sub-profiles.  FIG. 2B  depicts a password set  250  of the terrestrial television receiver  108  e.g., passwords for the V-chip controller  126 . As with the password set  200 , the password set  250  may comprise a master password  252  and four sub-profile passwords  254   1 ,  254   2 ,  254   3  and  254   4 . The password set  200  of the satellite receiver may have a different number of sub-passwords than the password set  250  of the terrestrial receiver. However, as described below, the integrated television system  100  of the present invention utilizes only one of these password sets  200  and  250  at any given time. 
       FIG. 3  depicts a flow diagram of a routine  300  for implementing a single password system as embodied in the invention. The integrated system  100  may include a software module or program stored in memory  116  that when executed by CPU  114  implements routine  300 . As both the satellite and terrestrial television receivers have passwords, the routine  300  uses only one of the password sets  200  and  250  associated with one of these television receivers. If the correct (paired) smart card  122  is inserted in interface  120 , then the routine  300  uses the satellite receiver passwords  200  for both satellite and terrestrial television programming access. If the smart card  122  is not inserted in the interface  120  or an inactive (unpaired) card is inserted, then the routine  300  uses the terrestrial receiver passwords  250  in a conventional manner to provide terrestrial programming only to a viewer. 
     After the routine  300  starts at step  302 , the routine  300  proceeds to step  304 , to determine whether the smart card  122  is inserted into the interface  120 . If the smart card  122  is not inserted, then the routine  300  proceeds to step  306 . Alternatively, if the smart card  122  is inserted into the interface  120 , then the routine  300  proceeds to step  308 . 
     At step  306 , the routine  300  uses the terrestrial television receiver passwords  250  in a conventional manner to permit access to terrestrial programming using a V-chip. In this case, the routine  300  precludes the use of the satellite passwords  200 . However, if the system  100  receives the smart card  122  at a later time, then the routine  300  starts over at step  302 . 
     At step  308 , the routine  300  determines whether the smart card  122  is “paired” to the system  100 , i.e., does the card serial number match the system serial number. 
     If the smart card  122  is not paired to the system  100 , the routine  300  proceeds to step  306 . As such, the routine  300  precludes use of the satellite passwords  200  on that system  100 . On the other hand, if the smart card  122  is paired to the system  100 , the routine  300  proceeds to step  310 . 
     At step  310 , the routine  300  synchronizes and/or links the satellite passwords  200  to the terrestrial passwords  250 . Synchronization is performed by writing the satellite passwords over the terrestrial passwords in RAM  116 . As such, the user can enter a satellite password to access both the terrestrial and satellite programming. The routine  300  proceeds to step  312 , where the routine  300  uses the satellite system passwords  200  for all programming access as well as sub-profile alteration. 
     Consequently, the present invention provides a method for simplifying a viewer&#39;s access to television programming that programming arrives from various password controlled sources. 
     Although various embodiments which incorporate the teachings of the present invention have been shown and described in detail herein, those skilled in the art can readily devise many other varied embodiments that still incorporate these teachings.