XM Radio...

Hey all--

I was just curious on a thought that came in to my head the other day. I'm not very knowledgeable on satelite signals and transfer processes but what I was wondering was how XM Radio keeps its signal encrypted over the airways? Is it much like a TV satelite system at all? I was just curious because thats the kind of person I am. So anyone how can offer any insight as to how this is done or what other measures they make to ensure XM Radio customers are the only ones that get the XM Radio. I greatly appreciate it.

Oh, by the way, this is NOT a pathetic attempt in any way to 'hack' or 'crack' XM Radio by me at all. Choose to devulge whatever little information you want. I dont care, I just found this to be an interesting topic to post because I find it fascinating.

--Peace :cool:

Well I don't know a ton about XM but I know a little bit. As far as I know, nobody is sure exactly how the encryption works. It's implemented in the hardware and works on blocks rather then streams. The keys are dynamic and new keys are sent to the radio periodically to keep it secure. They transmit the new keys over a period of time to make sure everyone gets it.

I got this info out of the new 2600 in an article written by Acidus, if you wanna know more I recommend you check it out.

-gunder