Patent · US Active

System and method for updating firmware in a secure manner

US7774596B2 · kind B2 · utility

19Cited by
11References
23Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateFeb 1, 2006
Grant dateAug 10, 2010
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 1, 2028

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F21/575
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A mechanism that allows firmware to be updated in a secure manner is discussed. Two attributes are used in the actual ROM to refer to a Virtual ROM module. The two attributes are a version attribute and a reference to a separate module that is capable of validating updates. The update process updates the message digest associated with the first Virtual ROM module and the version attribute associated with the first Virtual ROM module. The update process also produces a new copy of the corresponding file (that may be located on the local disk) that when hashed will “match” the new message digest.

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