Patent ID: 8139768

Claim:
A method performed at a tuner device by a processor executing instructions stored in a memory, the method comprising: receiving a request at the tuner device as an authenticated message from a requesting device for delivery of media content; receiving media content corresponding to the requested media content at the tuner device, the media content comprising a plurality of packets; passing the plurality of packets to a packet identifier for separating the packets into at least a first stream of sequenced media content packets that are part of a sequenced media stream communicated in a particular sequence, and a second stream of bulk packets containing information related to the media content and not having a particular sequence; encrypting the first stream of sequenced media content packets using first counters, by using a unique first counter to encrypt each discrete sequenced media content packet; encrypting the second stream of bulk packets containing information related to the media content as a group using a second counter, different from the first counters, as a second shared counter; sending the media content from the tuner device to the requesting device using at least two streams comprising: sending the first stream of the sequenced media content packets that are communicated in the particular sequence, each sequenced media content packet in the first stream having been encrypted with a corresponding unique first counter; and sending the second stream comprising the bulk packets encrypted as a group using the second shared counter.