Method and system for the controlled delivery of digital services, such as multimedia telematics services
AssigneeTelecom Italia S.p.A.
InventorsMassimo Balestri, Gianluca De Petris
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Abstract
The services delivered by a plurality of providers (SP) towards the users (U) are identified by respective streams of encoded data, for instance MPEG data. The users (U) are provided with respective receiving means (STB) of a generalised type, common to all users. Each user is provided with a user unit (105), preferably embodied in the form of a smart card, incorporating a processing function (VM) able to recognize, load and execute at least one enabling algorithm embedded in the data streams sent by the providers, by exploiting a respective identifying code, also embedded in the delivered data stream, to enable to receiving means, through the user unit (105), to make use of the respective service.
Claims13
A method for the controlled delivery of digital services by a plurality of providers to a user, wherein said services are identified by respective stream of encoded digital data emitted by said plurality of providers and the user is provided with a receiver and a single removable user unit to receive said digital data streams by said plurality of providers, the receiver being selected to make use of determined services of a given provider of said plurality, the method comprising the steps of:
- incorporating by each of said plurality of providers into said digital data streams a respective enabling algorithm generated by the provider and specific of the provider for the use of respective determined services of said plurality of providers,
- incorporating into said digital data streams respective identifying codes of selective users to receive said determined services,
- selectively loading said enabling algorithm of at least two of the plurality of providers in said digital data streams into the user unit of at least one of the selective users based on the respective identifying codes and wherein said enabling algorithms of at least two of the plurality of providers are concurrently available on the user unit for the at least one of the selective users to make use of said respective determined services of said at least two of the plurality of providers,
- associating to said user unit a processing function for recognizing and executing said enabling algorithm based on said identifying codes for the receivers of the selective users to make use of said respective determined services of said plurality of providers;
- associating to said receiver a trusted middleware function,
- configuring said trusted middleware function into a static part, residing on said receiver, and a dynamic part arranged to be selectively transferred onto single removable user unit in view of the execution of said respective enabling algorithm by said processing function.
A system for the controlled delivery of digital services by a plurality of providers to a user, wherein said services are identified by respective coded digital data streams and the user is provided with a receiver and a single removable user unit to receive said digital data streams delivered by said plurality of providers, the receiver being selected to make use of respective determined services of a given provider, wherein:
- each of said plurality of providers is arranged to incorporate into said digital data streams respective enabling algorithm generated by the provider for using said respective determined services of said plurality of providers, as well as respective identification codes of selective users to receive said respective determined services, wherein the respective enabling algorithm of at least two of the plurality of providers in said digital data streams is selectively loaded into the user unit of at least one of the selective users based on the respective identification codes and wherein said enabling algorithms of at least two of the plurality of providers are concurrently available on the user unit for the at least one of the selective users to make use of said respective determined services of said at least two of the plurality of providers,
- said single removable user unit has associated thereto a processing function arranged to recognize and execute said respective enabling algorithm on the basis of said identifying code, to make use of said respective determined services of said plurality of providers;
- and
- said receiver have associated thereto a trusted middleware function configured in a static part, residing on said receiver, and in a dynamic part arranged to be selectively transferred on the single removable user unit in view of the execution of said respective enabling algorithm by said processing function.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.