Media decoding control with hardware-protected digital rights management

An apparatus comprising memory and one or more integrated circuits adapted for decryption and/or decoding, the memory storing computer-executable instructions for causing the apparatus to perform media decoding control for first encrypted media data, the media decoding control comprising, in a trusted layer of a hardware-protected digital rights management (“DRM”) system:

• receiving at least some source media data from an untrusted layer of the hardware-protected DRM system, the at least some source media data including the first encrypted media data, the source media data also including first metadata parsed in the untrusted layer;
• determining second metadata from the received source media data;
• passing the second metadata to the untrusted layer, wherein the first and second metadata are not opaque within the untrusted layer;
• decrypting second encrypted media data using key data, wherein the second encrypted media data is based on the first encrypted media data;
• and
• decoding the decrypted media data, wherein the first and second metadata are used to manage, from the untrusted layer, at least some aspects of the decoding, rendering and/or display.

In an untrusted layer of a hardware-protected digital rights management (“DRM”) system, a method comprising:

• at a control module in the untrusted layer, receiving source media data including first encrypted media data;
• at the control module, receiving first metadata from a trusted layer of the hardware-protected DRM system, the first metadata including key data for decryption of second encrypted media data, wherein the first metadata is opaque within the untrusted layer;
• with the control module, passing (a) the first metadata and (b) second metadata that is not opaque within the untrusted layer to a host decoder in the untrusted layer;
• with the host decoder, passing the first metadata, including the key data, to the trusted layer for use in decryption of the second encrypted media data;
• and
• with the host decoder, using the second metadata to manage at least some aspects of decoding of the decrypted media data, rendering and/or display.

A hardware-protected digital rights management (“DRM”) system comprising a trusted layer and an untrusted layer, the hardware-protected DRM system including:

• for the trusted layer, (a) one or more integrated circuits adapted for decryption and/or decoding, (b) memory storing firmware instructions for controlling the one or more integrated circuits, and (c) protected buffers for storing decrypted media data;
• and
• for the untrusted layer, one or more modules of an operating system and/or applications that interact with the trusted layer across one or more interfaces but cannot access the decrypted media data in the protected buffers, the one or more modules including a control module and a host decoder;
• wherein the hardware-protected DRM system is configured to perform media decoding control comprising, in the untrusted layer:
• with the control module, receiving source media data including first encrypted media data;
• with the control module, processing metadata about the media data, wherein the metadata is not opaque within the untrusted layer;
• and
• with the host decoder, using the metadata to manage at least some aspects of decoding, rendering and/or display in the trusted layer, wherein the decoding, the rendering and the display follows decryption in the trusted layer of second encrypted media data based on the first encrypted media.

In an untrusted layer of a hardware-protected digital rights management (“DRM”) system, a method comprising:

• receiving source media data including first encrypted media data;
• processing metadata about the media data, wherein the metadata is not opaque within the untrusted layer;
• and
• with a host decoder in the untrusted layer, using the metadata to manage at least some aspects of decoding, rendering and/or display in a trusted layer of the hardware-protected DRM system, wherein the decoding, the rendering and the display follows decryption in the trusted layer of second encrypted media data based on the first encrypted media, wherein the hardware-protected DRM system uses, for the trusted layer, a general-purpose central processing unit and memory without special-purpose hardware for decryption, wherein transitions between the trusted layer and the untrusted layer are hardware-managed, and wherein only signed firmware instructions are loadable into the memory and executable for processing in the trusted layer.