USB secure storage apparatus and method

#1. Field of the Invention

#The present invention relates to an apparatus and method of providing a secure area on a media storage device, and more particularly an apparatus and method of providing a storage device with a secure section that does not require custom drivers or a specialized software package for accessing data in the secure section.

#2. Description of Related Art

#The foregoing and additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent through the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, made with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

#FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a USB secure storage device providing both a secure and a nonsecure section according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a method of setting up and sectioning the USB secure storage device of FIG. 1 into a secure area and a nonsecure area according to a still further aspect of the present invention;

#The principles of the present invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to preferred embodiments thereof. It should be noted, however, that these embodiments are provided by way of example, and not by way of limitation, and that the embodiments disclosed herein may be modified in form and detail without departing from the principles and scope of the invention.

#As noted previously, FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a USB secure storage device 100 providing both a nonsecure section 115 and a secure section 120 in a storage media area 110, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, the USB secure storage device 100 includes USB device firmware 130. A host OS 200 preferably includes a USB HID Class driver 205 and a USB MSC driver 210. The host USB MSC driver 210 preferably communicates with a USB MSC interface 140 in the firmware 130 of the USB storage device 100, while the host USB HID Class driver 205 preferably interacts with an HID interface 135 in the firmware 130 of the USB storage device 100. The host OS 200 preferably also includes a USB stack 215 and file system 220 to facilitate communicate between the host OS 200 and the USB storage device 100.

#As noted, the USB device firmware 130 preferably includes an HID interface 135 and a MSC interface 140. The MSC interface 140 preferably provides the ability to utilize multiple Logical Units (LUNs) 141, 142 to communicate separately with the secure section 120 and the nonsecure section 115. Most preferably, the size of the nonsecure and secure sections 115, 120 may be user configured by mapping storage areas on the physical media 110 to virtual LUNs corresponding to the secure 120 and nonsecure sections 115.