Patent · US Expired

Security chip architecture and implementations for cryptography acceleration

US6971006B2 · kind B2 · utility

28Cited by
13References
30Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateAug 23, 2002
Grant dateNov 29, 2005
Priority date
Expiry dateMar 3, 2023

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04L63/123
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An architecture and a method for a cryptography acceleration is disclosed that allows significant performance improvements without the use of external memory. Specifically, the chip architecture enables “cell-based” processing of random-length IP packets. The IP packets, which may be of variable and unknown size, are split into fixed-size “cells.” The fixed-sized cells are then processed and reassembled into packets. The cell-based packet processing architecture of the present invention allows the implementation of a processing pipeline that has known processing throughput and timing characteristics, thus making it possible to fetch and process the cells in a predictable time frame. The architecture is scalable and is also independent of the type of cryptography performed. The cells may be fetched ahead of time (pre-fetched) and the pipeline may be staged in such a manner that attached (local) memory is not required to store packet data or control parameters.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.