Adapter for connecting computer to satellite antenna

Cryptography – Key management – Having particular key generator

Reexamination Certificate

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Reexamination Certificate

active

06215873

ABSTRACT:

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention addresses the shortcomings of prior art systems by teaching a secure satellite communication system for providing subscribers with conditional access to broadcast satellite data through their computers. This system maintains the security of information by providing access only to authorized users, and provides an additional benefit by enabling users to concurrently receive and decrypt multiple data streams.
In a preferred embodiment, the present invention teaches a method for an adapter card, for use in a computer, to provide conditional access by the computer to input data, including data streams transmitted via satellite, wherein a data stream is comprised of at least one frame and each frame includes an address identifying the data stream. This method includes the steps of maintaining an Access Table, in which each table entry includes an address field for storing an address corresponding to a data stream which the computer is authorized to receive, receiving a frame and determining its address, and determining whether the frame address matches an address maintained in the Access Table in order to determine whether the computer has access to the data stream corresponding to the frame. If a match is not found, the adapter card discards the frame, but if a match is found, the adapter card processes and transmits the frame to the computer through a bus interface.
In a preferred embodiment, the adapter card additionally is capable of processing data transmitted from the computer.
In addition to the method described above, the present invention is also directed to an adapter card for use in a computer, for providing conditional access by the computer to input data including frames of data streams transmitted via satellite, wherein each data stream is comprised of at least one frame and each frame includes an address identifying the data stream. The adapter card includes a receiver for receiving a data stream frame, an Access Table, in which each table entry includes an address field for storing an address corresponding to a data stream which the computer is authorized to receive, an integrated filter/crypto (IFC) block for determining an address of the received frame and determining whether the frame address matches an address maintained in the Access Table, and a bus interface for enabling communication between the adapter card and the computer. If the IFC finds that the frame address does not match a table address, the IFC block discards the frame, but if it finds a match, the IFC block processes the frame into output data, to be transmitted to the computer via the bus interface. The IFC preferably is also capable of processing data input from the computer into output data.
The invention itself, together with further objects and attendant advantages, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


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