Patent · US Active

Computer system comprising a secure boot mechanism

US8656146B2 · kind B2 · utility

16Cited by

0References

22Claims

0Family size

Assignee

GlobalFoundries Inc. · KY

Inventors

Ralf Findeisen · Dresden, DE
Michael Grell · Dresden, DE
Tim Perley · Fort Collins, US
Marc Edwin Jones · Longmont, US
Frank Schuecke · Dresden, DE

Key dates

Filing date	Aug 6, 2008
Grant date	Feb 18, 2014
Priority date	—
Expiry date	Nov 21, 2032

Classification

Technology area (CPC G)Physics
CPC primaryG06F21/72
WIPO fieldComputer technology
WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A secure boot processing may be accomplished on the basis of a non-volatile memory that is an integral part of the CPU and which may not be modified once a pre-boot information may be programmed into the non-volatile memory. During a reset event or a power-on event, execution may be started from the internal non-volatile memory, which may also include public decryption keys for verifying a signature of a portion of a boot routine. The verification of the respective portion of the boot routine may be accomplished by using internal random access memories, thereby avoiding external access during verification of the boot routine. Hence, a high degree of tamper resistance may be obtained, for instance, with respect to BIOS modification by exchanging BIOS chips.

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