FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to service providers facility such as electronic cards like cards of the type commonly associated with banking cards, security cards, or identification cards. It relates to programmable card operable on a wireless device such as radio, television sets, mobile phones enabling the subscriber to select the desired channel and download desired analog or digital data. More specifically, it relates to a card that stores information regarding opted channel keys corresponding to the channels of interest.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
In order to elucidate the concept of present invention, the radio referred herein is the wireless device. The wireless device is a radio, a television set, a mobile phone.
In recent years, there has been increasing interest in allowing radio subscribers to record broadcast media program and digital contents for later playing. This capability, hereinafter referred to as personal recording, can be used to provide audio-on-demand services, or simply to allow the subscriber to save programs for repeated playing and/or archival purposes.
In the past, cassette tape recorders have been used for such personal recording. Recently, however, hard disks, similar to those used in personal computers, have been used to store media programs for later viewing. These devices are typically used to record analog or digital content.
An advantage of such devices is that they permit long term storage and multiple replays without substantial degradation. Another advantage is that they permit additional functions such as fast forwarding and rewinding. A disadvantage of such devices is that they are capable of making multiple-generation copies of the program material as well, and without

serious degradation. This raises the very real possibility that the multiple generation copies of the programs will be produced and distributed without permission. This possibility has caused some service providers to be reluctant to allow their programs to be recorded by such devices.
To overcome and to solve this problem, it is important and vital to control the access and, to protect the stored programs with strong security and copy control. Current devices as is known in prior art do not scramble programs before storage, nor do they store copy protection information in the storage device. Some devices record decrypted program content into the storage disk using a paired hardware scheme in which the hard disk controller and hard disk are paired to each other specifically through a specific interface. Because the hard disk controller and the disk itself are essentially paired together, storage or playback will not function if the disk were to be removed and transferred to another player. The weakness of this security scheme is that it relies only on the paired hardware to ensure security. The programs stored on the disk drive itself are not encrypted.
What is needed is a system and method for securely recording broadcast programs and for playback use at a later time. Such a system could be used to support audio-on-demand thus allowing the subscriber to purchase programs. What is also further needed is a system and method that may require some nominal changes to subscriber hardware
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
In summary, the present invention describes a system and method for storing and retrieving subscribed audio programs materials from a plurality of broadcast channels in an external storage medium for subsequent replay.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a programmable card that offers the functions of a single integrated card associated with a radio, to receive and download audio contents securely from atleast one broadcast channel.
It is an object of the invention to prevent multiple generations of the downloaded audio contents.
It is yet another object of the present invention to enable the subscriber to be aware of the contents such as opted channel key, currency, subscriber code that are stored in the programmable card.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig:1 - illustrates the block diagram of the data downloading.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In order to elucidate the concept of present invention, the radio referred herein is the wireless device. The wireless device is a radio, a television set, a mobile phone, that can accept an external storage medium and a programmable card that is provided by a service provider.
The invention relates to a method and a system for downloading and playback of analog or digital data from the channel broadcaster by service provider to the subscribers. Radio manufacturers provide radio systems which support this mechanism. Service provider acts as the interface between radio channel broadcasters and subscribers. The service provider has a plurality of broadcast channels as vendors. The service provider has a plurality of subscriber seeking subscription for the contents of specific channels or all channels. The service provider distributes a plurality of programmable cards, may be with a programmable card for each subscriber. Each programmable card is identified with a unique identifier.

However, each subscriber must be given a programmable card with a unique subscriber code, which is achieved by embedding "subscriber code" on the programmable card itself. It also has a set of opted Channel Keys stored therein. The radio has a channel activation processor that initiates downloading of the analog or digital data based on the opted channel key stored in the programmable card that is coupled to the said radio.
In the first aspect, the subscriber needs to couple the programmable card onto any of the distributed radio for the purpose of activating the programmable card and downloading the desired analog or digital data from broadcaster upon establishing the secured download between the radio and the broadcaster. Similarly the playback is achievable by coupling the programmable card onto any of the distributed radios.
Figure 1 shows the detailed block diagram of the present invention.
According to the present invention a service provider allows a subscriber to download analog or digital data from atleast one broadcaster and store in an external storage medium. The subscriber can playback the downloaded data from the external storage medium whenever required. Examples of external storage medium are SD-MMC Card, MMC Card etc. The subscriber has atleast two options for downloading the analog or digital data namely prepaid and post paid.
• The subscriber(B) can download/playback analog or digital data from atleast one broadcaster(C).
■ The subscriber (B) is required to register himself with the service provider (A). The service provider (A) provides a programmable card to the subscriber (B). The programmable card can be smart card or hardware locked USB Flash device. The programmable card contains unique subscriber code, opted channel keys and account information. The opted channel keys correspond to atleast one of the channels of a broadcaster, that the subscriber would wish to download analog or digital data from.

Prepaid scheme: If the subscriber chooses to have prepaid scheme, he/she can buy a programmable card from the service provider (A). The programmable card can be recharged and reused. The programmable card contains account information regarding the currency, wherein the currency is deducted based on duration of each download. The subscriber can initiate downloading by coupling the programmable card to the radio and inserting an external storage medium (2) to store the downloaded analog or digital data. The subscriber needs to have a radio with interface to external storage medium. Downloading is done on this external storage medium with encryption, to prevent piracy. The playback of downloaded data is performed after decryption.
Postpaid scheme: If the subscriber chooses to have postpaid scheme, he/she can buy a programmable card from the service provider (A). The programmable card can be reused. The subscriber can initiate downloading by coupling the programmable card to the radio(D) and inserting an external storage medium (2) to store the downloaded analog or digital data. On initiating a download, the radio(D) communicates with the service provider(A) through a (mobile) phone either via Bluetooth connection or through a cable connection, by sending an SMS(short messaging service) to the service provider(A). The SMS contains the unique subscriber code. If an acknowledgement for the SMS sent to the service provider(A) is successfully received by the radio(D)(the mobile device connected to the radio) , downloading of the analog or digital data to the external storage medium will start. After the downloading is completed, another SMS is sent to the service provider containing the duration of download. There are three trials done to send this SMS and receive acknowledgement. If the SMS/acknowledgement transfer is unsuccessful even after three trials, the recorded data on external storage medium is deleted. The subscriber can pay his bills accordingly. If the radio does not have access to a (mobile) phone, then the duration of recording for an entire billing cycle will be stored in the programmable card. At the end of the billing cycle, the subscriber pays his bills, by taking the programmable card to the service

provider. The service provider then reads the duration of downloading stored in the programmable card and calculates the billing charge accordingly. The subscriber needs to have a radio with interface to external storage medium. Downloading is done on this external storage medium with encryption, to prevent piracy. The playback of downloaded data is performed after decryption.
When the subscriber is listening to any channel, whenever he/she wishes to download, he can initiate downloading by pressing the "Record/Stop" button or any input means that can initiate downloading. The downloading is stopped by any of the following actions: (i) The subscriber depresses the "Record/Stop" button again, (ii) The subscriber can set the duration for downloading while initiating itself.
When a subscriber wishes to download analog or digital data such as songs from a broadcaster, the programmable card provided by the service provider is coupled to the radio. An external storage medium (2) such as SD/MMC card etc is also coupled to the radio to store the downloaded analog or digital data. The subscriber can select the required channel by depressing or touching the buttons for downloading. A tuner is used to tune the radio to the frequency of the required channel. A control access/verifier module (1) controls various modules such as a card channel activation processor (5), data processor module (3) and coding processor (4). The card channel activation processor (5) in the radio, reads the information such as the unique subscriber code, opted channel key and timing information if any, from the programmable card and verifies if the channel selected by the subscriber matches atleast one of the opted channel key stored in the programmable card. If the verification is successful then the downloaded analog or digital data is stored in a temporary buffer in the data processor module (3) of the radio, whereas in a normal radio the downloaded data is directly sent to the speaker. The data processor module comprises of coding processor (4) which performs encryption of downloaded analog or digital data stored

in temporary buffer. After encryption, the downloaded analog or digital data is stored in the external storage medium (2). The encryption process is described in detail as below.
If protection against piracy is to be provided, the data before downloading to the external storage medium(2) is encrypted, with a CW(control word) key derived from the unique identification number of the inserted external storage medium(2). Example: The Card Identification number (CID) which is a unique identification number of the external storage medium such as SD/MMC Card is used for deriving the CW key for encryption. A header is prefixed to the recorded data while encrypting. This header has information which specifies that this data was downloaded via radio.
As the identification number of the inserted external storage medium is unique for each and every external storage medium, copying the data recorded on one external storage medium into any other external storage medium will make the data not playable from the copied external storage medium. This is because, while reading from the external storage medium, decryption is done by using the CW key derived from the inserted external storage medium. As the keys used for encryption and decryption does not match, the data obtained will be erroneous after decryption. During playback the coding processor (4) performs the decryption of the encrypted downloaded analog or digital data stored in external storage medium. As the encryption is external storage medium specific, the same media can be used on any radio which allows this type of downloading/playback facility.
Advantages:
For the customer (subscriber):
■ Ease of availability of entertainment data like songs, jokes, or any data which is available on the radio.
■ Always brand new and up to date information, just on a finger tip
■ Plenty of radio stations to choose from.

■ Timer function can be set to record data at any predefined time, so that the subscriber does not miss out on his favorite program
■ Helpful to store data on the go, hence time saving
■ Helpful to the customer to make his own latest play list of songs
■ Easy to operate
■ As the recording is on external storage media, this allows permanent storage of the data recorded
■ Provides unlimited storage of data
• The information which is not yet available in the market or which is out dated, is at customer's reach, if this information is being broadcasted by any radio station. For the broadcaster:
Easy to implement
No interruption of the regular program through speaker Secure long term business Attractiveness of radio will increase Fast return on investment
Copying of data recorded on one external storage media to another will make the data unreadable on the copied media, hence preventing piracy. ■ Ensures recording legally
Real time example of the usage of the invention:
This type of recording can be done on any radio device which fulfills the requirements
mentioned above. Mentioned below is a real time example:
1) User has a radio system supporting this recording feature, with a smart card slot and
aslotforSD/MMCCard.

2) User prefers prepaid scheme. Hence, he buys a smart card with his favorite radio station frequency numbers and with 'X' currency.
3) User inserts the smart card into the smart card slot of the radio device, and inserts an SD Card into the SD/MMC Card slot.
4) User is listening to the radio. He wants to record the song playing or to be played. So, he pushes the "Record/Stop" button.
5) The song is encrypted and copied into the SD/MMC Card.
6) The currency is deducted from the smart card.
7) This song, if copied from this card into any other card, will make the data unusable.
8) After some days, when the user wants to listen to the recorded song, he inserts the SD/MMC Card into the radio system (or any other radio system which supports this mechanism) and plays it from there. As the correct SD/MMC Card is inserted, the data heard is same as that which was recorded.
9) After the currency in the smart card gets over, he can recharge the smart card. He can also add or delete certain radio station frequency numbers.
In another aspect, the invention enables coupling of any programmable card to any radio which supports this mechanism to conduct downloading, recording and playback.
In another aspect, the present invention relates to a programmable card that stores information regarding opted channel keys corresponding to the channels of interest.
The programmable card contains information regarding unique subscriber code, opted channel keys and also subscriber account information and values. The stored values can be communicated to the service provider through an interface such as mobile communication.
The programmable card as envisaged in the invention is adapted to be used with the radio as envisaged in the invention.

The subscriber can pre-store information regarding timing of download for an opted channel key that is stored in the programmable card. The subscriber can input the timing information by a variety of input means provided in the radio. The service provider can also store the timing information for the subscriber in the programmable card. However, any other method known in prior art to store the information such as timing etc in the programmable card may be applied herein.
In another aspect the subscriber can view the information stored in the programmable card provided by a service provider, with a card reader that has a display such as light-emitting polymer (LEP) display.
As per the invention, the external storage medium may also include security codes such control word key (CW key) that is derived from the unique identification number of the external storage medium coupled to the radio for preventing unauthorized use.
The present invention also relates to a method for downloading analog or digital data by a subscriber comprising a programmable card and a radio acting as partial card reader; establishing a connection between the programmable card and the card reader; so that the information stored in the programmable card can be read by the reader, and performs accordingly. The other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description of preferred embodiments in conjunction with the following figures.
The method of the invention is entirely compatible with the existing art. Only the presence of a specific software layer in a known radio is necessary, and hardware requires only slight modifications, which can be done once and for all, in the radio, which is the receiving apparatus for the program content onto which the programmable card is to be loaded for the purpose of the working of the invention.

Further details regarding control access/verifier is explained in detail as below: The radio is communicatively coupleable to the programmable card by the control access/verifier module. The said control access/verifier module (1) initiates card channel activation processor(CCAP)(5) to verify whether the programmable card is an eligible valid card of the radio thereby controlling the access of the subscriber. The CCAP also verifies if the subscriber is entitled to access the analog or digital data from a broadcaster based on the account information stored in programmable card. The control access/verifier module is thus communicatively coupled to the service provider and acts as a gate-keeper to determine whether broadcast data can be downloaded by the subscriber. This is accomplished by and implemented via software instructions stored in the data processor module (3).
The data that is downloaded by control access/verifier module, is encrypted by the data processor module and is securely stored in the external storage medium. The stored data in the external storage medium is obtainable by only an authorized subscriber of the programmable card.
Encryption and decryption of the recorded programs for the purpose of downloading and playback respectively is herein described:
Each downloaded analog or digital data from a broadcaster, is encrypted according to may be an alphanumeric encryption key referred to as a control word (CW) key. For the recorded contents to be bound to the memory card, the unique card identification number should be used to derive the CW key. This may be accomplished by any of the variety of data encryption techniques known in prior art.
To decrypt the encrypted analog or digital data, the coding processor performs decryption before play back to assure that they are viewed only by authorized subscriber. To maintain

security, CWs are not plaintext, but instead, CW key is encrypted before usage. This encrypted CW key is used as input for what is referred to hereinafter as an input/output (I/O) indecipherable algorithm used for recording the audio program.
An 1/0 indecipherable algorithm is an algorithm that is applied to an input data stream (audio program) to produce an encrypted output data stream between the data processor module and the coding processor module. Although the input data stream uniquely determines the output data stream, the algorithm selected is such that its characteristics cannot be deciphered from a comparison of even a large number of input and output data streams. The security of this algorithm can be further increased by adding additional functional elements which are non-stationary (that is, they change as a function of time). When such an algorithm is provided with identical input streams, the output stream provided at a given point in time may be different than the output stream provided at another time.
So long as the coding processor of the radio and the data processor module of radio share the same I/O indecipherable algorithm, any radio of the plurality of radios can encrypt and decrypt the information in the Control Word Packet to store and/or retrieve the CW key of any memory card. Then, using the CW key, the programs may be encrypted or can be decrypted so that it can be saved and/or presented to/for the subscriber. So the pluralities of external storage medium of the invention are usable with and associated with plurality of radios of the invention. Thus the programmable card can be used in any of the radios of the present invention to store analog or digital data in any external storage medium.

WE CLAIM :
1. A method for downloading data from broadcaster through a service provider by a
subscriber onto a wireless device that accepts a programmable card that is provided by the
service provider, comprising the steps of:-
(a) coupling the programmable card to the wireless device;
(b) the programmable card contains an unique subscriber code, atleast one opted channel key associating to broadcasters for authorized downloading and additional data code based on the type of programmable card; and
(c) enabling secured download of analog or digital data from the broadcaster, based on unique subscriber code and/or channel key and encrypting the downloaded data to be stored onto a storage medium for future playback so that the download data is secured on to a storage medium and prevents multiple copying.

2. A method of claim 1 comprising the step of attaching a external storage medium to the wireless device for the purpose of storing the download data to the storage medium.
3. A method according to claiml, wherein a programmable card coupled to the wireless device, is a smart card.
4. A method according to claiml, wherein the programmable card is a prepaid card or a post paid card, containing unique subscriber code, atleast one opted channel key and additional data code that relates to account information, duration etc.
5. A method according to claim 3, wherein the programmable card is a post paid card with or without phone connectivity.

6. A wireless device for secured downloading of analog or digital data from broadcaster
through a service provider by a subscriber onto a wireless device that accepts a
programmable card that is provided by the service provider, comprising:-
a) the wireless device having interface for a programmable card, is capable of tuning
into one of the plurality of channels;
(b) the programmable card having atleast a unique subscriber code, atleast one
channel identification key associating to broadcasters for authorized downloading
and additional data code based on the type of programmable card;
wherein the wireless device has a control access/verifier module for enabling a data
processor module to receive the secured analog or digital data from the broadcaster;
and a coding processor for encrypting the secured analog or digital data into the
external storage medium; and for decrypting the stored contents for playback so that
the download data is secured on the external storage medium and prevents multiple
copying.
7. A wireless device of claim 6 comprising the step of attaching a external storage medium to the wireless device for the purpose of storing the download data to the storage medium.
8. A wireless device according to claim 6, wherein the control access/ verifier module has a card channel activation processor to distinguish one channel from another and identify the selected channel.
9. A wireless device according to claim 6, wherein the data processor module and a coding processor module share a common input/output indecipherable algorithm to achieve mutual compatibility for any wireless device with a programmable card enabling the use of said programmable card with plurality of wireless devices.

10. A wireless device according to claim 6, wherein the programmable card is a prepaid
card or a post paid card, containing unique subscriber code, atieast one opted channel key
and additional data code that relates to account information, duration etc.
11. A wireless device according to claim 6, wherein the programmable card can be a
post paid card with or without phone connectivity.