Validation of protected intra-system interconnects for digital rights management in electrical computers and digital data processing systems

Abstract

Embodiments for validating protected data paths for digital rights management of digital objects are disclosed. Some embodiments disclosed herein may comprise processes or apparatus for transferring data from one or more peripherals to one or more computers or digital data processing systems for the latter to process, store, and/or further transfer and/or for transferring data from the computers or digital data processing systems to the peripherals. Some embodiments disclosed herein may comprise processes or apparatus for interconnecting or communicating between two or more components connected to an interconnection medium a within a single computer or digital data processing system.

1 . A method, comprising:
 analyzing, by a computer system, information related to a computing platform, wherein the information related to the computing platform comprises a bridge table corresponding to at least one of a component, functional unit, or combination thereof in a computing platform, and wherein the bridge table includes a rule for handling protected information;   determining, by the computer system and based, at least in part, on the bridge table, whether the computing platform is capable of routing protected information received from a media input device to a central processing unit; and   if the computing platform is determined to be capable of routing the protected information to the central processing unit, indicating an invalid protected data path implementation.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information related to the computing platform further comprises a net list for the computing platform. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the computing platform comprises a plurality of components and wherein the net list comprises a listing of at least some of the plurality of components, wherein the plurality of components comprises the media input device. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein one or more of the plurality of components comprise one or more functional units, and wherein the net list comprised a listing of at least some of the one or more functional units. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the net list comprises a list of pins configured to carry data for at least one of the plurality of components, at least one of the one or more functional units, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , where the net list further comprises a listing of nets between the pins. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the information related to the computing platform comprises a plurality of bridge tables corresponding to a plurality components, functional units, or combinations thereof, including the bridge table, and wherein the bridge tables comprise information describing how protected information is allowed to flow between pins configured to carry data. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the information describing how protected information is allowed to flow between pins comprises information related to the rule. 
     
     
         9 . An article, comprising: a non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon instructions that, if executed, direct a computing platform to:
 analyze information related to a test computing platform, wherein the information related to the test computing platform comprises a bridge table corresponding to at least one component of the test computing platform, wherein the bridge table includes a rule for handling protected information;   determine, based, at least in part, on the bridge table, whether the test computing platform is capable of routing protected information received from a media input device to a central processing unit; and   if the test computing platform is determined to be capable of routing the protected information to the central processing unit, indicate an invalid protected data path implementation.   
     
     
         10 . The article of  claim 9 , wherein the information related to the test computing platform further comprises a net list for the test computing platform. 
     
     
         11 . The article of  claim 10 , wherein the test computing platform comprises a plurality of components including the at least one component, and wherein the net list comprises a listing of at least some of the plurality of components, wherein the plurality of components comprises the media input device. 
     
     
         12 . The article of  claim 11 , wherein one or more of the plurality of components comprise one or more functional units, and wherein the net list comprises a listing of at least some of the one or more functional units. 
     
     
         13 . The article of  claim 12 , wherein the net list comprises a list of pins that may carry data for ones of the plurality of components, for ones of the one or more functional units, or combinations thereof. 
     
     
         14 . The article of  claim 13 , where the net list further comprises a listing of nets between the pins. 
     
     
         15 . The article of  claim 9 , wherein the information related to the test computing platform comprises a plurality of bridge tables, including the bridge table, corresponding to the plurality components, corresponding to the one or more functional units, or combinations thereof, and wherein the plurality of bridge tables comprise information describing how protected information is allowed to flow between pins configured to carry data. 
     
     
         16 . The article of  claim 15 , wherein the information describing how protected information is allowed to flow between pins configured to carry data comprises information related to the rule. 
     
     
         17 . An apparatus, comprising:
 means for analyzing information related to a computing platform, wherein the information related to the computing platform comprises a bridge table corresponding to at least one component of the computing platform, and wherein the bridge table includes a rule for handling protected information;   means for determining based, at least in part, on the bridge table, whether the computing platform is capable of routing protected information received from a media input device to a central processing unit; and   means for indicating an invalid protected data path implementation if the computing platform is determined to be capable of routing the protected information to the central processing unit.   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the information related to the computing platform further comprises a net list for the computing platform wherein the computing platform comprises a plurality of components, including the at least one component, and wherein the net list comprises a listing of at least some of the plurality of components, wherein the plurality of components comprises the media input device, wherein one or more of the plurality of components comprise one or more functional units, wherein the net list comprises a listing of at least some of the one or more functional units, wherein the net list comprises a list of pins that may carry data for each of the plurality of components, for each of the one or more functional units, or combinations thereof, and wherein the net list further comprises a listing of nets between the pins. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , wherein the information related to the computing platform comprises a plurality of bridge tables, including the bridge table, corresponding to a plurality components, including the at least one component, of the computing platform, corresponding to one or more functional units of the computing platform, or combinations thereof, wherein the plurality of bridge tables comprise information describing how protected information is allowed to flow between pins configured to carry data. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the information describing how protected information is allowed to flow between pins configured to carry data comprises information related to the rule. 
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the bridge table includes information regarding connections to a pin associated with the protected data path. 
     
     
         22 . The article of  claim 9 , wherein the bridge table includes information regarding connections to a pin associated with the protected data path. 
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the bridge table includes information regarding connections to a pin associated with the protected data path.