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US 7,260,218 B2Granted
Configurable circuit with configuration data protection features
AssigneeM2000
InventorsFrédéric Réblewski, Olivier Lepape
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A configurable circuit that includes configuration data protection features, and related methods, are described herein.
Claims22
A configurable circuit, comprising:
- a plurality of configurable functions;
- a configuration memory coupled to the configurable functions to store configuration data to configure the configurable functions;
- an input/output (I/O) interface;
- a cipher device coupled to the I/O interface, and adapted to encipher configuration data received through the I/O interface, and to output the resulting ciphered configuration data outside the configurable circuit through the I/O interface, wherein the cipher device is further adapted to be placed into a disabled state;
- and
- a decipher device coupled to the I/O interface, adapted to decipher previously outputted ciphered configuration data received back through the I/O interface, and to output the resulting deciphered configuration data to the configuration memory.
3 more elements
A method, comprising:
- providing a configurable circuit, including:
- a plurality of configurable functions;
- a configuration memory coupled to the configurable functions to store configuration data to configure the configurable functions;
- an input/output (I/O) interface;
- a cipher device coupled to the I/O interface, and adapted to encipher configuration data received through the I/O interface, and to output the resulting ciphered configuration data outside the configurable circuit through the I/O interface, wherein the cipher device is further adapted to be placed into a disabled state;
- and
- a decipher device coupled to the I/O interface, adapted to decipher previously outputted ciphered configuration data received back through the I/O interface, and to output the resulting deciphered configuration data to the configuration memory;
- and
- providing ciphering/deciphering keys, the ciphering/deciphering keys to be used by the cipher and decipher devices to encipher and decipher the configuration data respectively.
6 more elements
A method, comprising:
- providing a configurable circuit, including:
- a plurality of configurable functions;
- a configuration memory coupled to the configurable functions to store configuration data to configure the configurable functions;
- an input/output (I/O) interface;
- a cipher device coupled to the I/O interface, and adapted to encipher configuration data received through the I/O interface, and to output the resulting ciphered configuration data outside the configurable circuit through the I/O interface, wherein the cipher device is further adapted to be placed into a disabled state;
- and
- a decipher device coupled to the I/O interface, adapted to decipher previously outputted ciphered configuration data received back through the I/O interface, and to output the resulting deciphered configuration data to the configuration memory;
- and
- providing the configuration data through the I/O interface to the cipher device and recieving the resulting enciphered configuration data.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.