In-vehicle content delivery system operable in autonomous mode and non-autonomous mode
View Patent ↗Multimedia content may be delivered to content consumer devices via a content-delivery network. Encrypted content and cryptography keys for decrypting the content may be distributed from a data center to various nodes of the content-delivery network, each node acting as a semi-independent content-delivery system. Each content-delivery system is capable of delivering received content to end-users and implementing a key-management scheme to facilitate secure content-delivery and usage tracking, even when the content-delivery system is disconnected from the data center. In other words, the disclosed systems and methods facilitate the operation of nodes which may operate in “autonomous mode” when disconnected from a larger content-delivery network, thus maintaining content-delivery capabilities despite having little if any connectivity to external networks.
1. A method for providing an in-vehicle content-delivery service to a mobile consumer device, the method comprising:
at a content delivery system disposed at a vehicle, receiving from a mobile consumer device: (i) a content-request, wherein a license server external to the vehicle includes license-data representing access rights for one or more content items, and (ii) identification information particular to the mobile consumer device or to a user of the mobile consumer device;
without receiving authorization from the license server, initiating a content delivery session for a content item between the content delivery system and the mobile consumer device and starting delivery of a first portion of the content item from the content delivery system to the mobile consumer device;
synchronizing the content delivery system with the license server by:
(i) transmitting the identification information from the content delivery system to the license server;
(ii) when the content delivery system receives an authorization indication from the license server, responsive to the identification information, that indicates that the license-data authorizes the content delivery session for the content item: continuing the content delivery session and delivering a second portion of the content item; and
(iii) when the content delivery system does not receive the authorization indication: stopping the content delivery session after delivering at least a part of the first portion of the content item and not delivering the second portion of the content item.
2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the content delivery system providing a consumer portal by transmitting to the mobile consumer device content-option data representing the one or more content items,
wherein the content item is selected via the consumer portal by a user of the mobile consumer device from the one or more content options.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein delivering the first portion of the content item comprises encrypting the first portion to create an encrypted first portion and delivering the encrypted first portion; and
wherein the method further comprises the content delivery system transmitting a key to the mobile consumer device for the content delivery session, wherein the key is configured to decrypt the encrypted first portion.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the key is configured to decrypt the first portion only for a temporary interval.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the temporary interval corresponds to any one or more of the following factors: a predetermined length of time; a vehicle status; a trip status; or a status of the content delivery session.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identification information comprises a unique user identifier.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identification information comprises a token issued to the mobile consumer device by the license server in response to a previous content-request by the mobile consumer device.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identification information includes payment information for paying for the content delivery session.
9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
verifying the payment information at the license server by processing the payment information to determine whether the payment information is accepted or declined; and
when the payment information is accepted: transmitting the authorization indication from the license server to the content delivery system, and
when the payment information is declined: transmitting a second indication from the license server to the content delivery system to indicate that the content delivery session is not authorized.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the content-request and the payment information are received by the content delivery system while the content delivery system is not communicatively coupled to the license server;
wherein the method further includes the content delivery system storing the payment information without processing the payment information; and
wherein synchronizing the content delivery system with the license server only occurs after communication is established between the content delivery system and the license server.
11. A system for providing an in-vehicle content-delivery service to a mobile consumer device, the system comprising:
a license server external to a vehicle that authorizes content-requests from mobile consumer devices connected to an in-vehicle network for the vehicle based on an analysis of license-data representing access rights for one or more content items;
a content delivery system including one or more processors, wherein the content delivery system is disposed at the vehicle and communicatively connected to the in-vehicle network, wherein the one or more processors are configured to cause the content delivery system to:
(A) receive from a mobile consumer device: (i) a content-request for a content item, and (ii) identification information particular to the mobile consumer device or to a user of the mobile consumer device;
(B) without receiving authorization from the license server, initiate a content delivery session for the content item between the content delivery system and the mobile consumer device and start delivery of a first portion of the content item from the content delivery system to the mobile consumer device;
(C) synchronize the content delivery system with the license server, wherein the content delivery system:
(i) transmits the identification information from the content delivery system to the license server;
(ii) responds to receiving an authorization indication, from the license server, indicating that the license-data authorizes the content delivery session for the content item by continuing the content delivery session and delivering a second portion of the content item, wherein the authorization indication is transmitted by the license server based an analysis of the license-data; and
(iii) responds to not receiving the authorization indication by: stopping the content delivery session after delivering at least a part of the first portion of the content item and not delivering the second portion of the content item.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the identification information includes a unique user identifier.
13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the vehicle is an aircraft, and wherein the license server is a ground-based server configured to communicatively connect to the in-vehicle network via an air-to-ground communication link.
14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the identification information includes a token issued to the mobile consumer device by the license server in response to a previous content-request by the mobile consumer device.
15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the identification information includes payment information for paying for the content delivery session.
16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the content-request and the payment information are received while the content delivery system is not communicatively coupled to the license server; and
wherein the content delivery system includes a proxy license server configured to (i) authorize the content-request when the content delivery system is not in communication with the license server and (ii) update license-data stored at a memory disposed at the vehicle to indicate that the mobile consumer device has been granted temporary access rights for the content item.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the proxy server is configured to store the payment information without processing the payment information when the content delivery system is not communicatively coupled to the license server; and
wherein the content delivery system is configured to synchronize with the license server after communication is established between the content delivery system and the license server.
18. The system of claim 11 , wherein the first portion of the content item is encrypted when delivered to the mobile consumer device; and
wherein the content delivery system is configured to transmit to the mobile consumer device a key for decrypting the first portion.
19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the key is configured to decrypt the first portion only for a temporary interval.
20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the temporary interval corresponds to any one or more of the following factors: a predetermined length of time; a vehicle status; a trip status; or a status of the content delivery session.