Hardware protection of files in an integrated-circuit device

An integrated-circuit device comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory;
• a hardware memory protection module configured to control access to a plurality of regions of the memory in dependence on respective region-specific configuration settings;
• and
• a bus system, to which the processor and the hardware memory protection module are connected;
• wherein the memory stores file creation software, which, when executed on the processor, causes the processor to:
• create, in the memory, a new file by storing metadata for the new file and content data for the new file in a common memory region of said plurality of memory regions;
• and
• set an access condition for the common memory region in the configuration settings of the hardware memory protection module,
• and wherein the memory stores file retrieval software, which, when executed on the processor, causes the processor to search the memory to identify a file meeting a search criterion by reading the metadata of a set of one or more files from the memory and comparing the metadata against the search criterion to identify a file from the set that meets the search criterion.

An integrated-circuit device comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory;
• a hardware memory protection module configured to control access to a plurality of regions of the memory in dependence on respective region-specific configuration settings;
• and
• a bus system, to which the processor and the hardware memory protection module are connected;
• wherein:
• the memory stores a file comprising metadata and content data, wherein the metadata and the content data are stored in a common memory region of said plurality of memory regions, and wherein the configuration settings specify an access condition for the common memory region;
• and
• the memory stores file retrieval software, which, when executed on the processor, causes the processor to search the memory to identify a file meeting a search criterion by reading the metadata of a set of one or more files from the memory and comparing the metadata against the search criterion to identify a file from the set that meets the search criterion.