Patent ID: 7995755

Claim:
A method for management of access means to conditional access data, the conditional access data being broadcasted to at least one multimedia unit, the access means being controlled by a management centre, and the access means being associated to a time information, the multimedia unit comprising at least one security module in which the access means to data are stored; the multimedia unit also including remote communication means with the management centre and local communication means with the security module; the method comprising: initiating a verification of the next renewal date of the access means, the initiation coming from the security module; determining, in the security module, of the next renewal date of the access means; determining, in the security module, a difference between a current date and the next renewal date of the access means; if the difference between the current date and the next renewal date of the access means is less than a predefined time interval, then sending a request from the security module to the multimedia unit, using the local communications means, that requests the renewal of the access means; sending the request for renewal of the access means from the multimedia unit to the management centre, using the remote communication means; verifying by the management centre, if the multimedia unit is authorized to renew the access means; and in the case of a positive response, sending of an access means renewal message to the multimedia unit.