Clamshell protective encasement
AssigneeHoneywell International Inc.
InventorKenneth H. Heffner
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An anti-tamper system is provided. The anti-tamper system comprises a clamshell protective encasement adapted to encapsulate at least one device on a single circuit board such that at least one electrical connector of the single circuit board is accessible. The anti-tamper system also comprises one or more sensors embedded inside the clamshell protective encasement, the one or more sensors being adapted to detect unauthorized attempts to tamper with the clamshell protective encasement.
Claims27
An anti-tamper system comprising:
- a clamshell protective encasement adapted to encapsulate at least one device on a single circuit board such that at least one electrical connector of the single circuit board is accessible;
- one or more sensors embedded inside the clamshell protective encasement,
- the one or more sensors being adapted to detect unauthorized attempts to tamper with the clamshell protective encasement;
- and
- a thermal battery embedded inside the clamshell protective encasement and coupled to the one or more sensors, wherein the thermal battery is configured to physically destroy components storing critical data in response to signals received from the one or more sensors.
A method of assembling an anti-tamper system on a circuit board, the method comprising:
- encapsulating at least one device on a single circuit board with a clamshell protective encasement, wherein the clamshell protective encasement is placed such that at least one electrical connector of the single circuit board is accessible;
- embedding one or more sensors in the clamshell protective encasement for detecting unauthorized attempts to tamper with the clamshell protective encasement;
- embedding a thermal battery inside the clamshell protective encasement;
- and
- coupling the thermal battery to the one or more sensors, wherein the thermal battery responds to signals from the one or more sensors by physically destroying components storing critical data on the single circuit board.
An anti-tamper system comprising:
- means for encapsulating at least one device on a single circuit board, the encapsulation means being adapted to allow at least one electrical connector of the single circuit board to be accessible;
- and
- means for detecting unauthorized attempts to tamper with the encapsulation means;
- and
- means, responsive to the detection means, for generating sufficient heat to damage physical components on the single circuit board which carry data to be protected.
A method of using an anti-tamper system to protect data on a circuit board, the method comprising:
- detecting unauthorized attempts to tamper with a clamshell protective encasement using one or more sensors, wherein the clamshell protective encasement encapsulates at least one device on a single circuit board while allowing at least one electrical connector of the single circuit board to be accessible;
- sending a signal to a thermal battery when unauthorized attempts are detected by the one or more sensors;
- and
- generating sufficient heat with the thermal battery to damage physical components on the single circuit board based on the signal received from the one or more sensors.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.