Patent · US Active

Methods and arrangements to launch trusted, co-existing environments

US8510859B2 · kind B2 · utility

22Cited by
3References
15Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateSep 26, 2006
Grant dateAug 13, 2013
Priority date
Expiry dateJun 11, 2029

Classification

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

Abstract

Methods and arrangements to launch trusted, distinct, co-existing environments are disclosed. Embodiments may launch trusted, distinct, co-existing environments in pre-OS space with high assurance. A hardware-enforced isolation scheme may isolate the partitions to facilitate storage and execution of code and data. In many embodiments, the system may launch a partition manager to establish embedded and main partitions. Embedded partitions may not be visible to the main OS and may host critical operations. A main partition may host a general-purpose OS and user applications, and may manage resources that are not assigned to the embedded partitions. Trustworthiness in the launch of the embedded partition is established by comparing integrity metrics for the runtime environment against integrity measurements of a trusted runtime environment for the embedded partition, e.g., by sealing a cryptographic key with the integrity metrics in a trusted platform module. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

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