Patent Application
20050084022
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-320941, filed Sep. 12, 2003, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission system including a receiving apparatus and a transmitting apparatus, particularly to the receiving apparatus, the transmitting apparatus, the transmission system, and a transmission method for easily setting an ID between the receiving apparatus and the transmitting apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, various kinds of digital devices have been developed, manufactured, and come into widespread use, and communication of digital is easily performed between these digital devices. However, because digital information is easily handed, it has been difficult to protect a copyright of the content. Therefore, in order to protect the content, communication is performed after identification processing of the digital device is performed.
A wireless communication system between a server apparatus and a client apparatus, in which digital information is transmitted and received, is shown in Patent Reference 1. In this case, the content in which a broadcasting signal is received and decoded is supplied from the server apparatus to the client apparatus. Unique apparatus identification information (apparatus ID) is previously given to the client apparatus so that the content is not easily copied by another apparatus and can be received only by the dedicated client apparatus. Therefore, even if a third party maliciously tries to obtain the content from the server apparatus by using another digital device, the content can not be obtained because the apparatus ID is not given to the digital device of the third party.
As in the case of Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2002-198957 which is prior art, when the apparatus ID is given to the client apparatus, for example during shipment from a factory, there is no problem in the case where initially a set of the server apparatus and the client apparatus is manufactured and purchased. However, when a user wants to purchase on additional client apparatus after that, since it is necessary to prepare the client apparatus having the apparatus ID corresponding to the server apparatus which has been initially purchased, there is a problem that the addition of the client apparatus becomes very difficult.
An embodiment of the invention is a receiving apparatus having an input unit which obtains identification information from an external transmitting apparatus through a conductor and a receiving unit which receives and decodes the information wirelessly transmitted from the transmitting apparatus when the identification information given from the input unit permits decoding.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail.
[Configuration of Transmitting Apparatus and Receiving Apparatus of the Invention]
As shown in
A wireless TV is an example of the transmitting apparatus ST and the receiving apparatus M according to the invention. As shown in
In the wireless TV, a video cable connection between the transmitting apparatus ST which is the station and the receiving apparatus M which is the display side is removed, and the image is wirelessly transmitted between the transmitting apparatus ST and the receiving apparatus M. The wireless TV is realized by eliminating the cable.
The transmission method of IEEE802.11b at 2.4 GHz or IEEE802.11a at 5 GHz is preferable to the wireless communication. The transmission of about 5 Mbps can be normally performed as an effective rate of an image in IEEE802.11b and the transmission of about 15 Mbps can be normally performed in IEEE802.11a, so that the image and speech are generally compressed into MPEG2 to perform the transmission.
As shown in
The transmitting apparatus ST includes a control unit 10 and an EEPROM 17 which is a storage unit connected to the control unit 10. The control unit 10 performs control operation of the whole of transmitting apparatus and has an ID setting function which is the feature of the invention. The transmitting apparatus ST also includes a wired Ethernet unit 18 connected to a data bus and a connector 2 which can be connected to a cable 1 having a shape unique to the transmission system (or connected to a general purpose cable). Further, the transmitting apparatus ST includes a wireless module 14. In the wireless module 14, video information encoded by the MPEG encoder 13 is supplied, the video information is modulated to form a transmission signal, and the transmission signal is transmitted to a receiving apparatus M located on the display side which is the party at the other end of the wireless TV. For example, the wireless module 14 has a baseband unit 15 and an RF unit 16.
On the other hand, as shown in
The receiving apparatus M includes a control unit 30 and an EEPROM 37 which is a storage unit connected to the control unit 30. The control unit 30 performs control operation of the whole of transmitting apparatus and has the ID setting function which is the feature of the invention. The receiving apparatus M also includes a wired Ethernet unit 38 connected to the data bus and the connector 2 which can be connected to the cable 1 having the shape unique to the transmission system (or connected to the general purpose cable).
In the transmitting apparatus ST having the above-described configuration, the following basic operations are performed. After NTSC decode processing of the analog video signal is performed by the video converter 11, the video signal is converted into MPEG2-TS by the MPEG encoder 13, and the wireless processing is performed by the wireless module 14. The analog audio signal is converted into a PCM signal by the audio converter 12, the PCM signal is compressed and converted into MPEG2-TS by the MPEG encoder 13, and MPEG2-TS data is input to the wireless module 14. In the wireless module 14, the baseband unit 15 which perform baseband demodulation processing and the RF unit 16 bears the MPEG2-TS data on a frame of the radio signal to transmit the MPEG2-TS data by IEEE802.11a which is the wireless transmission method in the 5G band or IEEE802.11b which is the wireless transmission method in the 2.4G band.
In the above-described receiving apparatus M, the following basic operations are performed. Namely, the reverse processing of the transmitting apparatus ST is performed in the monitor apparatus M. The data wirelessly transmitted from the station ST is returned to the MPEG2-TS data by the baseband processing of the RF unit 32 and the baseband unit 33 in the wireless module 31, and the MPEG2-TS data is decoded by the MPEG2 decoder 34. In the video signal, RGB output is output to the monitor 39 by the video converter 35. The audio signal is output from the speaker 40 after digital to analog conversion is performed by the audio converter 36.
Although the image data is wirelessly transmitted from the station ST side to the monitor apparatus M side, because the wireless communication is easily intercepted, from the viewpoint of security, recently it is often the case that the data is transmitted after the data is encrypted in the wireless baseband processing of the baseband units 15 and 33. When both the transmitting side and the receiving side do not have a key for decoding the encryption, the data encrypted by the transmitting side can not be decoded on the receiving side. In the communication between personal computers, generally the same password is input by the personal computer of the transmitting side and the personal computer of the receiving side, the encryption key is generated by the same algorithm on the basis of the same password, and the encrypted data can be decoded by the receiving side.
(Outline of Security of Wireless LAN)
Then, an outline concerning the security of wireless LAN will be described (see “A Guideline concerning the security of wireless LAN” published by JEITA).
“The reason why the security function is required for wireless LAN” will be first described. In order to simply construct LAN environment with no trouble of wiring, the wireless LAN is designed so that the personal computer and a wireless access point with which the wireless LAN is equipped can perform the mutual communication of any device with no particular setting. At the same time, unless the security is set in the wireless LAN, anyone can intercept a communication message or invade the network without using a particular tool within the range where the radio signal of the wireless LAN can reach. Therefore, it should be considered that measures for the security in the wireless LAN is required more than in wire LAN.
Then, “types of the security functions of the wireless LAN” are cited below. In the wireless LAN of IEEE802.11 method which is extensively used at the present day, the following security functions which end users can easily set are prepared for the measures for the security.
(1) SSID (Service Set Identifier): Only wireless LAN terminals in which the same SSID are set can be connected by setting an identifier of the network (SSID) to the access point.
(2) Setting of a WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) key: The data is encrypted between the access point and the wireless LAN terminal by the common encryption key.
Then, “the setting of SSID” will be described. Because SSID is set to a manufacture's setting value in an initial state, it is necessary to set a unique name in the user's network in order to distinguish the user's network from other networks. However, since the set SSID can be easily seen by a third party, it can not be expected that SSID has the security function. On the contrary, when the user sets SSID to such a name as a family name or an organization name of the user which can specify the user, there is a possibility that the third party wrongly has an interest. Therefore, it is recommended that the name whose meaning is not caught as much as possible is set.
Then, “the setting of WEP” will be described. WEP is the function which encrypts the data in a wireless interval, and WEP is the security function which is the most effective at the present moment. Because WEP becomes invalid in the initial state, it is preferable that the encryption key (WEP key) is set to make WEP valid without fail. When the 128-bit key and the 64-bit WEP key can be set, it is preferable to select the 128-bit key in order to make it difficult to decode the encryption. Further, it is preferable that the WEP key is periodically changed on the assumption that the WEP key is broken.
Then, “MAC address filtering” will be described. The MAC address filtering is the function which prohibits the connection to the access point except the device having a registered MAC address, and the MAC address filtering has an effect on the prevention of the invasion. However, the MAC address filtering has no effect on the prevention of the interception. Further, there is a possibility that the MAC address is intercepted by the dedicated tool, so that it preferable to use both the MAC address filtering and WEP.
There is the above-described guideline and currently the above-described setting is performed in many personal computers. However, as described in the guideline, in the above-described method, any user can wirelessly communicate with any personal computer in which the above-described setting is performed as long as the password is found. For example, a stranger in another room or another house which is located in the range where the radio signal reaches can easily perform the interception as long as the password is found. This is because there are still many worries about the security in the wireless LAN.
In the case of TV, a program is wirelessly transmitted. The program includes a pay program and the program having the copyright, so that it is necessary that the security is further improved. Unlike the personal computer, since a user interface such as keyboard input is less common in TV, it is not preferable to adopt the method in which the user inputs the password to the station and the monitor.
Therefore, in the prior art, a pair of unique IDs is written in the transmitting side and the receiving side in manufacturing the wireless TV, and the processing in which IDs are mutually confirmed is performed in transmitting the content. However, in this method, the identification information becomes valid only between the pair of the transmitting apparatus and the receiving apparatus of purchasing, and it is difficult to easily set ID even if the user purchases the additional monitor which is the receiving apparatus. The setting the identification information through the conductor according to the invention is the transmission system in which the identification information (ID) is given to the receiving apparatus from the transmitting apparatus by utilizing the conductor such as the cable, and the communication of the content is performed by the wireless transmission after the receiving apparatus is authenticated, thereby the receiving apparatus can be easily added while the identification information is prevented from intercepting in the wireless transmission. The setting and application of the identification information will be described in detail below referring to the accompanying drawings.
[Operations of Transmitting Apparatus and Receiving Apparatus According to First Embodiment of the Invention]
A first embodiment of the invention specifies the transmission system and the transmission method in which the dedicated cable is connected between the transmitting apparatus and the receiving apparatus to supply the identification information (see
As shown in
The ID setting will be described in detail referring to the flowchart shown in
When the authentication processing fails at both the transmitting apparatus ST and the receiving apparatus M, the display of an error is performed on the monitor 39 to interrupt the processing (S16 and S34). When the authentication is correctly performed, in order to prompt the user to issue an ID in accordance with the operation of the control unit 10, the receiving apparatus M transmits an ID issue request signal through the cable 1 without waiting for the user's operation (S17).
The transmitting apparatus ST transmits the ID information through the cable 1 according to the ID issue request signal (S35). In this case, the ID information is a specific data string. It is also preferable to transmit computing result in which the ID information is calculated by a specific function. When the ID information is received in the receiving apparatus M, the ID information is stored in a storage area such as an EEPROM 17. As shown in
Then, the normal transmission processing can be performed. At this point, it is preferable that the normal transmission processing is also performed subject to the disconnection of the cable. Further, it is preferable that, before the wireless transmission of the video data and the audio data, the authentication processing is performed between the transmitting apparatus ST and the receiving apparatus M to confirm that the transmitting apparatus ST and the receiving apparatus M have the same ID.
In the receiving apparatus M, the normal transmission processing is performed such that the user operates an operation panel of the monitor which is the receiving apparatus M and a request signal for watching a specific channel is wirelessly transmitted to the station which is the transmitting apparatus ST (S19). In accordance with the normal transmission processing in the receiving apparatus M, in the transmitting apparatus ST, the broadcasting signal of a specific broadcasting station is selected and demodulated by the tuner 9, and the broadcasting signal is converted into the video signal and the audio signal by the MPEG decoder 13. Then, the encryption key information according to the ID information is generated by actions of the control unit 10 and the wireless module 14, the video signal and audio signal are encrypted on the basis of the encryption key information to wirelessly transmit the encrypted video signal and audio signal (S36). At this point, although it is not always necessary to perform the encryption according to the ID information by the encryption key, the encryption processing can further improve the security.
Then, in the receiving apparatus M, the encrypted video information is received by the wireless module 31, the encryption key according to the ID information is generated by the actions of the control unit 30 and the wireless module 31, the encrypted video information is decoded by the encryption key (S20). After he necessary decoding process of the decoded video information is performed by the MPEG decoder 34, the video information is converted into the video signal which is the analog signal by the video converter 35 to be displayed on the screen by the monitor 39 (S21). Similarly, the video information is converted into the audio signal which is the analog signal by the audio converter 36 to be output from the speaker 40.
In the transmission system according to the invention, since the identification information (ID) is set through the conductor such as the cable by the above-described procedure, it is avoided that the third party maliciously intercepts the wireless signal to steal an ID and then the pay channel and the like are maliciously intercepted with a personal computer by using the ID. Therefore, while the security of the content is certainly protected, as shown in
[Operations of Transmitting Apparatus and Receiving Apparatus According to Second Embodiment]
A second embodiment of the invention specifies the transmission system and the transmission method in which the cradle and the monitor are provided as the transmitting apparatus and the receiving apparatus and contact point units of both the transmitting apparatus and the receiving apparatus are made of the conductor to supply the identification information (see
As shown in
The process of setting the identification information ID between the transmitting apparatus ST and the receiving apparatus M in the above-described configuration will be described below referring to the flowchart shown in
When the authentication processing is failed at both the transmitting apparatus ST and the receiving apparatus M, the display of the error is performed on the monitor 39 to interrupt the processing (S16 and S34). When the authentication is correctly performed (S15), in order to prompt the user to issue an ID in accordance with the operation of the control unit 10, the receiving apparatus M transmits the ID issue request signal through the contact point unit 20 of the cradle C without waiting for the user's operation (S17).
The transmitting apparatus ST transmits the ID information through the contact point unit 20 of the cradle c in accordance with the ID issue request signal (S35). In this case, the ID information is a specific data string. It is also preferable to transmit the computing result in which the ID information is calculated by a specific function. When the ID information is received in the receiving apparatus M, the ID information is stored in the storage area such as an EEPROM 17. As shown in
Then, the normal transmission processing is performed. At this point, it is preferable that the normal transmission processing is also performed subject to the dismounting of the monitor apparatus M from the cradle C. Further, it is preferable that, before the wireless transmission of the video data and the audio data, the authentication processing is performed between the transmitting apparatus ST and the receiving apparatus M to confirm that the transmitting apparatus ST and the receiving apparatus M have the same ID.
Because the same processes as the flowchart shown in
In the second embodiment, since the identification (ID) is set by using the contact point unit of the cradle as the conductor, it is avoided that the third party maliciously intercepts the wireless signal to steal an ID and then the pay channel and the like are maliciously intercepted with a personal computer by using the ID.
[Operations of Transmitting Apparatus and Receiving Apparatus According to Third Embodiment]
A third embodiment of the invention specifies the transmission system and the transmission method in which the dedicated recording medium is used and the identification information is supplied by using the interface of the dedicated recording medium as the conductor (see
The transmitting apparatus ST and the receiving apparatus M according to the third embodiment share the identification information through the dedicated recording medium.
The process of setting the identification information ID between the transmitting apparatus ST and the receiving apparatus M in the above-described configuration will be described below referring to the flowchart shown in
On the other hand, in the transmitting apparatus ST, the storage of the identification into the dedicated medium 3 is performed independently of the operation procedure of the receiving apparatus M. Namely, the user loads the dedicated medium 3 on the interface 19 of the transmitting apparatus ST. When it is confirmed that the dedicated medium 3 is justifiable (S38), the operation for issuing an ID is performed in the transmitting apparatus ST by the user's operation. In accordance with the operation, the identification information is stored in the dedicated medium 3 by the action of the control unit 10 (S39). At this point, instead of the data string of the identification information ID, it is possible that the identification information is the computing result in which predetermined computing processing is performed.
On the other hand, when it is not authenticated that the dedicated recording medium 3 is justifiable, the display of the error is performed to interrupt the processing (S28). When the authentication of the dedicated recording medium 3 is correctly performed (S27), the receiving apparatus M obtains the identification information from the dedicated recording medium 3 in accordance with the operation of the control unit 10 to store the identification information in an EEPROM 17 which is the recording unit. Then, the receiving apparatus M acknowledges the user of the completion of the ID setting, prompts the user to unload the dedicated recording medium 3 from the interface 19, and displays on the monitor 39 or the like that the transmission processing between the normal transmitting apparatus ST and the receiving apparatus M is enabled (S29).
Then, the normal transmission processing is performed. At this point, it is preferable that the normal transmission processing is also performed subject to the unloading of the dedicated recording medium 3 from the interface 19. Further, it is preferable that, before the wireless transmission of the video data and the audio data, the authentication processing is performed between the transmitting apparatus ST and the receiving apparatus M to confirm that the transmitting apparatus ST and the receiving apparatus M have the same ID.
Because the same processes as the flowchart shown in
In the third embodiment, since the identification information (ID) is set by using the dedicated recording medium 3 and the interface 19 used as the conductor, it is avoided that the third party maliciously intercepts the wireless signal to steal an ID and then the pay channel and the like are maliciously intercepted with a personal computer by using the ID. The dedicated recording medium 3 is not the type which is available in the commercial market, and it is preferable to use the dedicated recording medium 3. However, even if the general type of medium such as an SD (Smart Disk) card is used, the same action and effect can be realized.
As described above, in the receiving apparatus according to the invention, the unique identification information (ID) given to the receiving apparatus from the transmitting apparatus is supplied through the conductor such as the cable. After the identification information is transmitted from the transmitting apparatus to the receiving apparatus, the cable or the like is disconnected, it is decided that the identification information is justifiable, and the content and the like are transmitted from the transmitting apparatus to the receiving apparatus. Thus, the user can easily give the identification information by using the cable or the like from the transmitting apparatus to the additional receiving apparatus which is purchased after that, so that the user can easily extend the transmission and reception system after the first purchase of the system.
On the other hand, in the system, the identification information can not be obtained unless the transmission is performed through the conductor such as the cable, the cradle, and the medium, and the identification information is not often transmitted by the wireless transmission. For example, it can be avoided that the next-door third party steals the identification information to intercept the pay content from the user's transmitting apparatus only by the receiving apparatus of the next-door third party. Therefore, while the security is maintained, the transmission system can be easily extended such that the number of receiving apparatuses is increased. Further, the transmission system and the transmission method based on the same principle are further disclosed by the invention.
Although those skilled in the art can realized the invention by the embodiments disclosed above, it is further understood that those skilled in the art can easily make various changes and modifications in the invention and apply the invention to various embodiments without any inventive ability. Therefore, the invention covers the broad range consistent with the disclosed principles and the novel features, and the invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments.
For example, in the above-described embodiments, although the transmission system according to the invention was described by using the examples of the monitor and the station having the TV tuner function, the invention can be similarly applied to the general transmission system.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-320941 | Sep 2003 | JP | national |
