Medialiving Concept

The Medialiving® concept is a true innovative approach for a full end-to-end secured distribution of digital audiovisual. The aim is to analyze and protect digital audiovisual content streams in order to ensure the distribution of content in an interoperable, interactive and adaptive way.

Three key principles are guiding the Medialiving® process:

• Avoid exposing all content online by extracting a small piece of the digital stream and substitute a lure for it, sending a Lured_Media®, with exactly the same length and same file format. The extracted part, generally up to about 1% or less of the original data, is locked in a Control_Object® server.
• Distribute freely the lured digital stream (Lured_Media®.)
• Distribute the extracted parts Control_Object® in real-time upon payment or any other event that would trigger an access authorization to the entertainment piece. The Live_Composer® is then recomposing the original images and sound in real time.

The Medialiving® concept is based on three processes:

The Luring Process
In order to perform a relevant compliant lure insertion, the original digital bitstream encoding video and/or still image and/or audio content is first analyzed and parsed.

The Luring Process is then accomplished according to its native digital format (JPEG-2000, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, etc.). Approximately less than 1% of relevant data is extracted from the original data stream at targeted random locations and embedded in a Control_Object®, stored aside in a separate Control_Object Server®. Each extracted data is substituted with lures of the same length and a new digital stream (the Lured_Media®) is generated.

The "self secured" Lured_Media® can be freely pre-distributed while the Control_Object®can be sent through a narrow bandwidth network, its bit-rate being comparatively low against that of the original audiovisual content. The Lured_Media® may be stored in a standard media server, sent to the user in real time, downloaded via a broadband network, distributed via P2P or copied as DVD, CD, etc. As a result of the original data extraction, the Lured_Media® is robust against attacks from hackers in quest for the original content. In addition, such attempts to decode the Lured_Media® would entail a perceived degradation, thereby preventing unauthorized access to the original content while ad-hoc decoders are not corrupt.



The Live_Dialog® Process
In order to allow the reconstitution of the original media carried out by the Live_Composing® process, the Medialive agent stored in the end user's device, connects to the Control_Object server for identification and authentification. After checking the usage rights related to the content and the user with a Digital Rights Management server, the Control_Object® server performs the sending of the related Control_Objects®.
According to the usage mode, the Control_Object® is downloaded or streamed piece by piece during the playing of the audiovisual content through a secured transmission protocol. The Control_Object® can also be sent through any existing DRM technology.

The Live_Composing® Process
Following a connection with the Control_Object® Server and the authentication process, the Live_Composing® of the original stream is performed within the end user's device by combining the Lured_Media® and the Control_ Object®'s data.To recompose the original stream, the lures that were extracted from the bit-stream during the Luring_Process®, are fed to the Live_Composer® module and the original values are recovered.

Key aspects of the process are:

• The Medialiving® is a low bit-rate content protection, because of its natural process for optimizing the data extraction efficiency. It also boasts a low computation cost as its integrates with any standard decoder (such as MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.263, MP3, AAC, JPEG2000, etc.)
• The Medialiving® is not a coding technology, hence there is no quality loss during the whole cycle: the original content remains protected.
• The Live_Composing® can be adaptive or progressive.
• To ensure a robust protection, the Control_ Object® may be encrypted with the real-time session key of the receiver.
• The Control_ Object® may be encapsulated with any existing DRM technology, using only 1% of bandwidth and/or memory instead of 100% with the full original file.
• The Live_Dialog® ensures that there is no key exchange during the session. The session key expires with the session, ensuring a secure session.

General Architecture: