Importance

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Abstract

A hardware authentication mechanism ensures that a device receiving a packet of copy-protected data has been authorized by the transmitting device to receive the packet of data. The transmitting device authenticates a receiving device and verifies that the receiving device is authorized to receive the copy-protected data. Once authenticated, the transmitting device then sends a write authentication transaction, including a physical identifier value representing the transmitting device, to the receiving device. This authentication transaction is preferably addressed to a predefined address in the receiving device. This address is preferably communicated from the receiving device to the source device during the earlier authentication process. Alternatively, the address is assigned by convention. In an alternative embodiment, the authentication transaction also contains additional information, such as one or more encryption keys which are needed by the receiving device to decipher and use the copy-protected data. Upon receiving the authentication transaction, the receiving device then latches the physical identifier value into a dedicated register. When a data packet is then received at the receiving device, the interface hardware of the receiving device compares the physical identifier value in the received data packet to the value stored in the dedicated register. If the physical identifier value in the received data packet and the value stored in the dedicated register are the same, the interface hardware receives the data packet. If the physical identifier value in the received data packet and the value stored in the dedicated register are not the same, the interface hardware does not receive the data packet.

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First Claim