Processing system, related integrated circuit, device and method

A processing system, comprising:

• a communication system having a given physical address range;
• a processing core comprising:
• a microprocessor configured to execute software instructions and a master interface circuit associated with the microprocessor and configured to forward write requests from said microprocessor to said communication system, said write requests comprising a physical address within said physical address range and data to be written to said physical address;
• and
• a circuit;
• a slave interface circuit configured to manage an address sub-range and selectively forward write requests addressed to a given address from said communication system to said circuit;
• wherein said slave interface circuit includes configuration data indicating whether said given address is protected or unprotected and comprises a memory for storing additional configuration data indicating whether said given address is locked or unlocked, and wherein said slave interface circuit is configured to:
• receive a write request addressed to said given address from said communication system;
• extract data and the given address from said received write request;
• determine whether said configuration data indicate that the extracted given address is protected or unprotected, and whether said additional configuration data indicate that the extracted given address is locked or unlocked;
• in response to determining that the extracted given address is unprotected or the extracted given address is unlocked, forward said write request to said circuit;
• in response to determining that the extracted given address is protected and the extracted given address is locked, generate an unlock signal in response to a comparison of said extracted given address with said extracted data, wherein the unlock signal is:
• asserted when said extracted data satisfy a predetermined rule with respect to said extracted given address, to cause an update of said additional configuration data in order to indicate that the extracted given address is unlocked;
• and
• deasserted when said extracted given data does not satisfy the predetermined rule with respect to said extracted given address, to cause an update of said additional configuration data in order to indicate that the extracted given address is locked.