Interactive video distribution systems – Access control or blocking – Access via pin or password
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-02
2001-12-25
Kostak, Victor R. (Department: 2611)
Interactive video distribution systems
Access control or blocking
Access via pin or password
C725S025000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06334216
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an access control facility for a service-on-demand system, comprising a set-top box which is connected to the service-on-demand system and includes a smart-card interface and a decoder which can read and decode information stored on a smart card inserted by a user into the interface, said access control facility further comprising a controller which can permit or block access to the service-on-demand system depending on the decoded information.
A service-on-demand system with such an access-control facility is described, for example, in the German journal “Funkschau”, No. 3, 1996, pages 39 to 41.
Service-on-demand systems, particularly video-on-demand and pay TV, but also electronic banking and other electronically switchable value-added services, are enjoying increasing popularity.
Unlike phone cards, on which a fixed credit is stored when they are purchased, which can be gradually exhausted, so that when there is no credit left on the card, the latter will be worthless, the smart cards used in service-on-demand systems are, as a rule, replenishable against a corresponding payment or by debiting a deposit account. Frequently, however, no credit is stored on the credit card itself, but after access to the system, billing takes place via a customer-related electronic deposit account. In service-on-demand systems, therefore, it is particularly important to check the user's access authorization, which is unnecessary with phone cards.
To this end, a service-on-demand system usually comprises a plurality of set-top boxes with a smart-card interface and a decoder which reads and decodes the information stored on a smart card inserted by a user. In a controller, access to the point-to-multipoint system is then permitted or blocked depending on the decoded information. The operation of such a set-top box is described, for example, in an article entitled “Evolution of the Digital Set-Top Box”, Conference Publication No. 428 of the International Broadcasting Convention, Sep. 12-16 1996, pages 277 to 282.
In differently constructed electronic environments, such as multiuser networks, unauthorized access is prevented by even further-reaching security measures. In an article by Chang and Hwang published in Computers Math. Applic., Vol. 26, No. 7, 1993, pages 19 to 27, the use of a password in addition to the use of a smart card as a prerequisite for gaining access to a computer system is described. A considerable problem arises from the transport of the password, which is entered by the user at a peripheral device, through the network to a central processing unit where authentication is performed by comparing this password with a stored list of valid passwords. On its way through the network, the password may be intercepted and deciphered, so that unauthorized persons may easily gain access to the network. Another problem is that the information stored on the smart card can be read without any evidence of the user's authority to access this information being required.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an access control facility for a service-on-demand system of the kind described at the beginning which can prevent unauthorized access to the system with a higher degree of certainty than conventional facilities, with the generally sensitive and user-related data on the smart card being better protected against unauthorized readout.
The invention is characterized in that input means are provided for enabling the user to enter a secret number, and that the decoder of the set-top box is granted access to the inserted smart card for reading and decoding the information stored thereon only if a correct secret number was entered.
Through the use of a secret number in addition to the hitherto required insertion of a smart card into the set-top box, a substantially higher barrier is created against intrusion into the service-on-demand system. Protection for the data stored on the smart card is increased as these data can be read by the set-top box only if a correct secret number was entered.
The input means of the access control facility according to the invention preferably comprise a keyboard and/or voice-controlled remote-control elements, with mouse systems or similar continuous input means being usable instead of or in addition to the keyboard.
A particularly preferred embodiment of the access control facility according to the invention is characterized in that the secret number specific to the respective authorized user is stored on the smart card, and that access to the service-on-demand system is permitted only if the secret number entered by the user corresponds with the secret number stored on the smart card. The secret number can thus be checked already in the area of the set-top box, i.e., without having to be transported over long data paths with the above-described insecurities.
In a preferred development of this embodiment, the decoder can access the other data stored on the smart card only if the secret number entered by the user corresponds with the secret number stored on the smart card. In this manner, the smart card itself is protected by the secret number, while in conventional solutions, only the entry of the secret number together with the insertion of the smart card into the set-top box provides additional protection against unauthorized use of the system.
To further increase the protection of the data stored on the smart card and particularly of the secret number, the secret number stored on the smart card is not readable, and the smart card contains an arithmetic unit or an electronic circuit which can compare the secret number entered by the user with the stored secret number. Thus, if an unauthorized person should obtain possession of the smart card, the card will be of no use to that person as long as he or she does not know the secret number.
In another preferred embodiment of the access control facility according to the invention, the data stored on the smart card are at least partially exchangeable or renewable. Compared with systems in which the data stored on the smart card cannot be changed later, substantially increased flexibility is provided for the user, the system operator, and the providers connected to the system.
Thus, besides the user-specific secret number, data that can be entered by the user himself or herself, such as configuration data for personalized user interfaces (look-and-feel), setup information, branch addresses (bookmarks), etc., may be stored on the smart card.
Alternatively or in addition, user-related data that can be entered by the service provider connected to the service-on-demand system, such as credit frames, personal discounts, etc., and/or information intended for major user groups, such as current special offers, announcements, scheduled times, etc., may be stored on the smart card.
The invention also provides a method of operating the above-described access control facility which is characterized in that the decoder of the set-top box reads a customer number stored on the smart card and passes it on to a server or central station connected to the service-on-demand system, that in the server or central station, the customer number is compared with data-base entries present therein, and that if the customer number corresponds with a customer number registered there, the user will be granted access to the service-on-demand system via the set-top box. With the aid of the customer number, an electronic account can be kept via which charges can be made to the customer for the use of services.
Preferably, the customer number is transmitted from the set-top box over the return channel of the service-on-demand system to the server or central station in encrypted form, particularly in RSA-encrypted form, so as to prevent unauthorized access to the customer number or at least make such access more difficult.
Another advantageous variant of the method is characterized in that together with the customer number, a time stamp is transferre
Alcatel
Kostak Victor R.
Sughrue & Mion, PLLC
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