Patent Grant
6947561
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of content protection. More specifically, the present invention addresses the generation of pseudo random numbers for use in a symmetric ciphering/deciphering process based authentication process for authenticating video receiving devices.
2. Background Information
In general, entertainment, education, art, and so forth (hereinafter collectively referred to as “content”) packaged in digital form offer higher audio and video quality than their analog counterparts. However, content producers, especially those in the entertainment industry, are still reluctant in totally embracing the digital form. The primary reason being digital contents are particularly vulnerable to pirating. As unlike the analog form, where some amount of quality degradation generally occurs with each copying, a pirated copy of digital content is virtually as good as the “gold master”. As a result, much effort has been spent by the industry in developing and adopting techniques to provide protection to the distribution and rendering of digital content.
Historically, the communication interface between a video source device (such as a personal computer) and a video sink device (such as a monitor) is an analog interface. Thus, very little focus has been given to providing protection for the transmission between the source and sink devices. With advances in integrated circuit and other related technologies, a new type of digital interface between video source and sink devices is emerging. The availability of this type of new digital interface presents yet another new challenge to protecting digital video content. While in general, there is a large body of cipher technology known, the operating characteristics such as the volume of the data, its streaming nature, the bit rate and so forth, as well as the location of intelligence, typically in the source device and not the sink device, present a unique set of challenges, requiring a new and novel solution. Parent applications Ser. Nos. 09/385,590 and 09/385,592 disclosed various protocol and cipher/deciphering techniques to authenticate a video sink device and protect transmission to the video sink device. Pseudo random numbers are employed as seed or basis numbers for the ciphering/deciphering process.
As technology advances, it is desired to selectively allow certain video sink devices to make authorized copies of the protected video. According, a method and apparatus to protect the provision of copy control information is desired.
The present invention will be described by way of exemplary embodiments, but not limitations, illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like references denote similar elements, and in which:
a-3b illustrate the symmetric ciphering/deciphering process in further detail, in accordance with one embodiment;
In the following description, various aspects of the present invention will be described, and various details will be set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced with only some or all aspects of the present invention, and the present invention may be practiced without the specific details. In other instances, well known features are omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the present invention.
Various operations will be described as multiple discrete steps performed in turn in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the present invention. However, the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily performed in the order they are presented, or even order dependent. Lastly, repeated usage of the phrase “in one embodiment” does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, although it may.
Referring now to
The exact nature of these copy control information is application dependent and of no particular relevance to the practice of the present invention. Similarly, the communication interface employed (not shown) as well as the communication protocol employed by video source device 102 to convey the copy control information to video sink/recording device is also of no particular relevance to the practice of the present invention. Any communication link and protocol known in the art may be employed.
Except for the teachings of the present invention incorporated, to be described more fully below, video source device 102 is intended to represent a broad range of digital devices known in the art, including but not limited to computers of all sizes (from palm size device to desktop device, and beyond), set-up boxes, or DVD players. Examples of video recording devices include but are not limited to computing devices with storage medium, “digital VCR” and the like. As to digital video link 106, it may be implemented in any one of a number of mechanical and electrical forms, as long as they are consistent with the operating requirement (i.e. speed, bit rate and so forth), and a mechanism (which may be in hardware or through protocol) is provided to allow control information to be exchanged between video source and sink/recording devices 102 and 104.
Before proceeding to describe the present invention in further detail, it should be noted that video sink/recording device 104 may also be disposed “behind” a video signal repeater device, repeating signals for the “remotely” disposed video sink/recording device 104, as opposed to being directly coupled to video source device 102 as illustrated.
In one embodiment, each of source and sink/recording devices 102 and 104 is pre-provided with an array of 40 56-bit private keys by the certification authority. An is a 64-bit random number, and Km is 56-bit long. For more information on the above described authentication process, see co-pending U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 09/275,722, filed on Mar. 24, 1999, entitled Method and Apparatus for the Generation of Cryptographic Keys, having common inventorship as well as assignee with the present application.
Having authenticated sink/recording device 104, source device 102 ciphers video content into a ciphered form before transmitting the video content to sink device 104. Source device 102 ciphers the video content employing a symmetric ciphering/deciphering process, and using the random number (An) as well as the independently generated authentication key (Km) (block 206). Upon receipt of the video content in ciphered form, sink/recording device 104 deciphers the ciphered video content employing the same symmetric ciphering/deciphering processing, and using the provided An as well as its independently generated copy of Km (block 207).
In accordance with the present invention, as an integral part of ciphering video content, source device 102 derives a set of verification reference values in a predetermined manner (block 208). Likewise, as an integral part of symmetrically deciphering video content sink/reording device 104 also derives a set of verification values in a predetermined manner, and transmits these derived verification values to source device 102 (block 209). Upon receiving each of these verification values, source device 102 compares the received verification value to the corresponding one of the verification reference values to determine and confirm that indeed the ciphered video content is being properly deciphered by sink/recording device 104 (block 210).
For the illustrated embodiment, both source and sink/recording devices 102 and 104 generate the verification reference and verification values continuously, but the verification values are provided from sink/recording device 104 to source device 102 periodically at predetermined intervals.
In one embodiment, the verification reference and verification values are all 64-bits in length, and sink/recording device 104 provides source device 102 with verification values at initialization and every 64th frames thereafter.
a-3b illustrate the symmetric ciphering/deciphering process in further detail, in accordance with one embodiment. In this embodiment, the video content is assumed to be a multi-frame video content with each frame having multiple lines of video content. In between two lines of a frame is an interval to allow a sink device to horizontally “retrace” itself, commonly known as the horizontal retrace interval or horizontal blanking interval (HBI). Likewise, in between two frames is an interval to allow a sink device to vertically “retrace” itself, commonly known as the vertical retrace interval or vertical blanking interval (VBI).
Source device 102 first generates a session key (Ks) for the transmission session (block 302). For the illustrated embodiment, Ks is generated by block ciphering the above mentioned random number An using the authentication key Km as the block cipher key and applying C1 clocks. The duration of a transmission session is application dependent. Typically, it corresponds to a natural demarcation of the video content, e.g. the transmission of a single movie may constitute a transmission session, or the transmission of an episode of a sitcom may constitute a transmission session instead.
Upon generating the session key Ks, source device 102 generates an initial version of a second random number (M0) (block 304). For the illustrated embodiment, source device 102 first generates a pseudo random bit sequence (at p-bit per clock) using a stream cipher with the above described random number An and the session key Ks (in two roles, as another input random number and as the stream cipher key), applying C2 clocks. Source device 102 derives M0 from the pseudo random bit sequence, as the bit sequence is generated.
Next, source device 102 generates a frame key (Ki) for the next frame (block 306). For the illustrated embodiment, Ki is generated by block ciphering an immediately preceding version of the second random number Mi-1 using the session key Ks as the block cipher key, and applying C3 clocks. That is, for the first frame, frame-1, frame key K1 is generated by block ciphering the above described initial version of the second random number M0, using Ks, and applying C3 clocks. Additionally, this operation is subsequently repeated at each vertical blanking interval for the then next frame, frame-2, frame-3, and so forth.
Upon generating the frame key Ki, source device 102 generates the current version of the second random number (Mi) (block 302). For the illustrated embodiment, source device 102 first generates a pseudo random bit sequence (at p-bit per clock) using a stream cipher with the previous version of the second random number Mi-1 and the frame key Ki (in two roles, as another input random number and as the stream cipher key), applying C4 clocks. Source device 102 derives Mi from the pseudo random bit sequence, as the bit sequence is generated.
Upon generating the current version of the second random number Mi, source device 102 again generates a pseudo random bit sequence (at p-bit per clock) to cipher the frame (block 308). For the illustrated embodiment, source device 102 generates the pseudo random bit sequence using a stream cipher with an immediately preceding version of the second random number Mi-1 and frame key Ki (in two roles, as another input random number and the stream cipher key), applying C5 clocks cycles. The video content is ciphered by perform an exclusive-OR (XOR) operation on the video stream and the pseudo random bit sequence. The pseudo random bit sequence is generated preferably at a rate sufficient to cipher a pixel of RGB signal per clock. Therefore, C5 is equal to the number of bits per pixel multiply by the number of pixels per line, as well as the number of lines per frame.
For the illustrated embodiment, a stream cipher that successively transforms Mi and Ki in the course of generating the pseudo random bit sequence is employed. Additionally, the robustness of the ciphered video content is further strengthened by increasing the unpredictability of the pseudo random bit sequence through successive modification of then current states of Ki the horizontal blanking intervals of the frame (block 310).
Over in sink device 104, in like manner, it first generates a session key (Ks) for the transmission session (block 312). Upon generating the session key Ks, sink device 104 generates an initial version of the second random number (M0) (block 314). Next, sink device 104 generates the frame key (Ki) and second random number (Mi) for the next frame (block 316). This operation is likewise subsequently repeated at each vertical blanking interval for the then next frame. In the meantime, after generation of each frame key Ki and Mi, sink device 104 generates a corresponding pseudo random bit sequence to decipher the frame (block 318). The ciphered video content is deciphered by performing an exclusive-OR (XOR) operation on the video stream and the corresponding pseudo random bit sequence. Sink device 104 also employs a stream cipher that successively transforms Mi and Ki in the course of generating the pseudo random bit sequence. Furthermore, Ki is successively modified at the horizontal blanking intervals of the frame (block 320). Ki, the pseudo random bit sequence, and Mi are symmetrically generated as earlier described for source device 102.
In one embodiment, Ks and each Ki are both 84-bit in length. C1 and C3 are both 48 clocks in length. Each pixel is 24-bit, and the pseudo random bit sequence is generated at 24-bit per clock. Each Mi is 64-bit in length, C3 and C4 are 56 clocks in length. Each 64-bit Mi is formed by concatenating the “lower” 16-bit stream cipher output of each of the last four clocks.
Accordingly, video content may be advantageously transmitted in ciphered form with increased robustness from source device 102 to sink/recording device 104 through link 106 with reduced pirating risk.
Upon receipt of the copy control information from video source device 102, video sink/recording device 104 would do the same thing, that is incorporating the n-bit copy control information into the corresponding initialization value for a corresponding register of its cipher unit in like manner.
Thereafter, 404, video source and sink/recording device 102 and 104 would correspondingly initialize their cipher units, including the special initialization value (incorporated with the copy control information) among the initialization values to be employed. Accordingly, the copy control information affects the pseudo random sequence subsequently generated by cipher unit 112, and employed to cipher video content as earlier described. In like manner, unless tampered, the corresponding effects will manifest themselves in the pseudo random sequence subsequently generated by the cipher unit of video sink/recording device 104 to decipher the ciphered video content.
In the event the copy control information are tampered with, the correct pseudo random sequence required to decipher the ciphered video content will not be produced, and as a result, the video content will not be available for copy.
Thus, in can be seen from the foregoing, the copy control information are protected from tampering.
Briefly, in block mode, block key section 502 is provided with a block cipher key, such as the earlier described authentication key Km or the session key Ks; whereas date section 504 is provided with the plain text, such as the earlier described random number An or the derived random number Mi-1. “Rekeying enable” signal is set to a “disabled” state, operatively de-coupling block key section 502 from stream key section 506. During each clock cycle, the block cipher key as well as the plain text are transformed. The block cipher key is independently transformed, whereas transformation of the plain text is dependent on the transformation being performed on the block cipher key. After a desired number of clock cycles, the provided plain text is transformed into ciphered text. For the earlier described video content protection method, when block key section 502 is provided with Km and data section 504 is provided with the An, ciphered An is read out and used as the session keys. When block key section 502 is provided with Ks and data section 504 is provided with the Mi-1, ciphered Mi-1 is read out and used as the frame key Ki.
To decipher the ciphered plain text, block key section 502 and data section 504 are used in like manner as described above to generate the intermediate “keys”, which are stored away (in storage locations not shown). The stored intermediate “keys” are then applied to the ciphered text in reversed order, resulting in the deciphering of the ciphered text back into the original plain text. Another approach to deciphering the ciphered text will be described after block key section 502 and data section 504 have been further described in accordance with one embodiment each, referencing
In stream mode, stream key section 506 is provided with a stream cipher key, such as the earlier described session key Ks or frame key Ki. Block key section 502 and data section 504 are provided with random numbers, such as the earlier described session/frame keys Ks/Ki and the derived random numbers Mi-1. “Rekeying enable” signal is set to an “enabled” state, operatively coupling block key section 502 to stream key section 506. Periodically, at predetermined intervals, such as the earlier described horizontal blanking intervals, stream key section 506 is used to generate one or more data bits to dynamically modify the then current state of the random number stored in block data section 502. During each clock cycle, in between the predetermined intervals, both random numbers stored in block key section 502 and data section 504 are transformed. The random number provided to block key section 502 is independently transformed, whereas transformation of the random number provided to data section 504 is dependent on the transformation being performed in block key section 502. Mapping block 506 retrieves a subset each, of the newly transformed states of the two random numbers, and reduces them to generate one bit of the pseudo random bit sequence. Thus, in a desired number of clock cycles, a pseudo random bit sequence of a desired length is generated.
For the illustrated embodiment, by virtue of the employment of the “rekeying enable” signal, stream key section 506 may be left operating even during the block mode, as its outputs are effectively discarded by the “rekeying enable” signal (set in a “disabled” state).
Substitution boxes 604 and linear transformation unit 606 may be implemented in a variety of ways in accordance with well known cryptographic principles. One specific implementation is given in more detail below after the description of FIG. 7.
Again, substitution boxes 604 and linear transformation unit 606 may be implemented in a variety of ways in accordance with well known cryptographic principles.
In one implementation for the above described embodiment, each register 602a, 602b, 602c, 702a, 702b, 702c is 28-bit wide. [Whenever registers 602a-602c or 702a-702cb collectively initialized with a key value or random number less than 84 bits, the less than 84-bit number is initialized to the lower order bit positions with the higher order bit positions zero filled.] Additionally, each set of substitution boxes 604 or 704 are constituted with seven 4 input by 4 output substitution boxes. Each linear transformation unit 606 or 706 produces 56 output values by combining outputs from eight diffusion networks (each producing seven outputs). More specifically, the operation of substitution boxes 604/704 and linear transformation unit 606/706 are specified by the four tables to follow. For substitution boxes 604/704, the Ith input to box J is bit I*7+J of register 602a/702a, and output I of box J goes to bit I*7+j of register 602c/702c. [Bit 0 is the least significant bit.] For each diffusion network (linear transformation unit 606 as well as 706), the inputs are generally labeled I0-I6 and the outputs are labeled O0-O6. The extra inputs for each diffusion network of the linear transformation unit 706 is labeled K0-K6.
Referring now back to
Other sections, such as stream key section 506 and mapping section 508, of the example combined block/stream cipher illustrated in
Accordingly, a novel method and apparatus for protecting copy control information provided to a video recording device has been described.
Epilogue
From the foregoing description, those skilled in the art will recognize that many other variations of the present invention are possible. Thus, the present invention is not limited by the details described, instead, the present invention can be practiced with modifications and alterations within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part application to U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 09/385,590, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,477,252 and Ser. No. 09/385,592, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,731,758, both entitled Digital Video Content Transmission Ciphering and Deciphering Method and Apparatus, filed on Aug. 29, 1999.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Child | 09608996 | US | |
| Parent | 09385592 | Aug 1999 | US |
| Child | 09385590 | US |
