Scheme for transferring and authenticating data

A system comprising:

• a computer processor circuit, wherein the computer processor circuit is configured to receive a message from a source external to the system, the message having data and a first message authentication code, wherein the first message authentication code is generated at the source from the data;
• a memory system configured to store the message received by the computer processor circuit;
• and
• a hardware circuit, wherein the hardware circuit is configured to retrieve the message from the memory system, generate a second message authentication code from the data in the message retrieved from the memory system independent of any knowledge of the first message authentication code, invert the second message authentication code, and transmit the second message authentication code to the computer processor circuit;
• wherein the computer processor circuit is configured to determine an authenticity of the message and an error status of the data based on a comparison of the second message authentication code to the first message authentication code that takes into account the inversion of the second message authentication code.

A method comprising:

• receiving, at a hardware circuit in a computer system, a message from a sensor circuit external to the computer system, the message having sensor data, a message counter, and a first message authentication code, wherein the first message authentication code is generated by the sensor circuit from the sensor data and the message counter;
• transmitting, by the hardware circuit, the message to a processor circuit in the computer system;
• storing, by the processor circuit, the message in a memory system of the computer system;
• retrieving, by the hardware circuit, the sensor data and the message counter from the memory system;
• generating, at the hardware circuit, a second message authentication code from the sensor data and the message counter retrieved from the memory system, wherein the second message authentication code is generated independent of any knowledge of the first message authentication code;
• inverting, at the hardware circuit, the second message authentication code;
• transmitting, by the hardware circuit, the second message authentication code to the processor circuit;
• and
• determining, at the processor circuit, an authenticity of the message and an error status of the sensor data based on a comparison of the second message authentication code to the first message authentication code that takes into account the inversion of the second message authentication code.