Method for providing a scalable trusted platform module in a hypervisor environment

US7478246B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• International Business Machines Corporation · US

Inventors

• Richard Louis Arndt · Austin, US
• Steven A. Bade · Georgetown, US
• Thomas J. Dewkett · Staatsburg, US
• Charles W. Gainey, Jr. · Poughkeepsie, US
• Nia Letise Kelley · Austin, US
• Siegfried Sutter · Eppelheim, DE
• Helmut H. Weber · Waldenbuch, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Jul 29, 2004
• Grant date: Jan 13, 2009
• Expiry date: May 12, 2026

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04L63/102
• WIPO field: Digital communication
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A method is described for implementing a trusted computing environment within a data processing system where the data processing system includes a single hardware trusted platform module (TPM). Multiple logical partitions are provided in the data processing system. A unique context is generated for each one of the logical partitions. When one of the logical partitions requires access to the hardware TPM, that partition's context is required to be stored in the hardware TPM. The hardware TPM includes a finite number of storage locations, called context slots, for storing contexts. Each context slot can store one partition's context. Each one of the partitions is associated with one of the limited number of context storage slots in the hardware TPM. At least one of the context slots is simultaneously associated with more than one of the logical partitions. Contexts are swapped into and out of the hardware TPM during runtime of the data processing system so that when ones of the partitions require access to the hardware TPM, their required contexts are currently stored in the hardware TPM.