Tag System to Mitigate Maliciously Tainted and Counterfeit Products
AssigneeLexmark International, Inc.
InventorsJAMES HOWARD ELLIS, KEITH BRYAN HARDIN, ROBERT HENRY MUYSKENS, MITCHELL RAY ROWLETTE, CARL EDMOND SULLIVAN
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Abstract
In the invention described, a method of creating a unique tag or labeling system for electronic printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA) that is unique, virtually un-duplicatable, and may be altered when the electronics are tampered with.
Claims15
A method of making a unique magnetic tag consisting of:
- attaching previously randomized magnetized particles in an adhesive material;
- and
- attaching the adhesive material to a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA);
- wherein since the particle placement, the magnetic field direction and the magnetic field strength of the particles are random, the magnetic field produced by the material attached to the adhesive is unique and virtually impossible to reproduce.
A unique magnetic tag embedded on an inner layer of a printed circuit board.
A method of intentionally placing the magnetic particles within the solder of a printed circuit board consisting of:
- selecting a solder with a melt temperature sufficiently below the curie point of the magnetic particles that are used;
- and
- using the low melt temperature solder alloys to attach an integrated circuit or other electrical part to the printed circuit board;
- wherein an attempt to remove and replace an integrated circuit with a counterfeit the solder would inevitably be melted and cause the magnetic particles within the solder joints to move.
A system wherein one or more unique magnetic tags are distributed over the surface area of a printed circuit board assembly to reduce or eliminate printed circuit board assembly tampering.
A tamper resistant system that cryptographically links the magnetic field data of one or more unique magnetic tag's with a printed circuit board assembly serial number to provide an in-system tamper monitoring, detection, intervention and reporting system.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.