Application-specific integrated circuit (asic) with one-time programmable (otp) bits
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorGary M. Nobel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Values are received for one-time programmable (OTP) bits of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that are unprogrammed. The ASIC has one or multiple processors that are disabled. The OTP bits of the ASIC are programmed with the received values. The OTP bits after having been programmed govern which and whether instructions are executable by the ASIC. Future reprogramming of the OTP bits of the ASIC is disabled. In response to successful programming of the OTP bits and successful disabling of future reprogramming of the OTP bits, the processors of the ASIC are enabled.
Claims15
A method comprising:
- receiving values for a plurality of one-time programmable (OTP) bits of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that are unprogrammed, the ASIC having one or multiple processors that are disabled;
- programming the OTP bits of the ASIC with the received values, the OTP bits after having been programmed governing which and whether instructions are executable by the ASIC;
- disabling future reprogramming of the OTP bits of the ASIC;
- and
- in response to successfully programming the OTP bits and successfully disabling future reprogramming of the OTP bits, enabling the processors of the ASIC.
A non-transitory computer-readable data storage medium storing program code executable by one or multiple processors of an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) to perform processing comprising:
- loading, by a boot processor of the processors of the ASIC, instructions, the processors having been enabled via a processor enable bit of the ASIC having previously been set to true;
- calculating, by the boot processor, values based on the loaded instructions;
- comparing, by the boot processor, whether the calculated values match values with which one-time programmable (OTP) bits of the ASIC have been previously programmed;
- in response to the calculated values matching the values with which the OTP bits have been previously programmed, executing, by the boot processor, the loaded instructions.
An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) comprising:
- one or multiple processors, including a boot processor that executes instructions before any other processor can execute other instructions;
- a plurality of one-time programmable (OTP) bits that cannot be reprogrammed after having been programmed with values, the OTP bits after having been programmed governing which and whether the instructions are executable;
- and
- a processor enable bit that is not set to true to enable the processors until the OTP bits have been programmed with the values.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.