Secure electronic entity integrating life span management of an object

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10134217-B2
Application number	US-53649303-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 21, 2003
Priority date	Nov 25, 2002
Publication date	Nov 20, 2018
Grant date	Nov 20, 2018

Abstract

A secure electronic entity, adapted to store at least one object, includes a unit for measuring the passage of time as from a reference date associated with the object. It includes a unit for storing a life span assigned to the object co-operating with the time measuring unit so as to compare the time elapsed and the life span. It further includes an updating and invalidating unit, to update the object life span or to temporarily or permanently disable the object if the comparison shows that the time elapsed exceeds the life span. The invention is in particular applicable to smart cards.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A secure electronic entity, comprising:
a microprocessor;
a memory apparatus having stored therein at least one object that comprises content including any of data and/or functions, said object constituting an application, operable by said microprocessor to cause the microprocessor to operate in a predetermined manner, stored in the memory apparatus having a lifespan associated therewith;
a time measuring apparatus that measures a time that has elapsed from a reference time associated with said object, the time measuring apparatus comprising one or more subsystems, each subsystem of said one or more subsystems comprising
a capacitive component subject to leakage across a dielectric space of the capacitive component,
a coupling structure that couples said capacitive component to an electrical power supply to be charged by said electrical power supply, and
a charge measuring device that measures a residual charge in the capacitive component, said residual charge being at least in part representative of a time that has elapsed since the capacitive component was decoupled from the electrical power supply; and

a storage apparatus that stores a value of said lifespan associated with said object in the memory apparatus, the storage apparatus co-operating with the time measuring apparatus to compare the elapsed time and said lifespan,
said time measuring apparatus configured to, upon a result of said comparison being that the elapsed time has reached or passed the lifespan of the object in the memory apparatus, perform any of i) update said lifespan of the object stored in the memory apparatus and ii) render the content of the object stored in the memory apparatus unusable, and
said time measuring apparatus being configured to provide a measurement of the time that has elapsed from the reference time associated with said object when said electronic entity is not supplied with electrical power.

2. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 , wherein said lifespan corresponds to a total time of real use of the object.

3. The secure electronic entity according to claim 2 , wherein the time measuring apparatus is adapted to supply a measurement of the time that has elapsed since the reference time upon the electronic entity not being supplied with electrical power.

4. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 , wherein said lifespan is a time period independent of a total time of real use of the object.

5. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 , wherein the time measuring apparatus is adapted to provide a measurement of the time that has elapsed since the reference time upon the electronic entity not being supplied with power by an external power supply.

6. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 , wherein the time measuring apparatus is adapted to supply a measurement of the time that has elapsed since the reference time independently of any external clock signal.

7. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 , wherein the time measuring apparatus is configured to compare two times of day.

8. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 , wherein the memory apparatus that stores the lifespan includes another secure entity situated inside or outside said secure electronic entity.

9. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 , wherein the reference time is a time of day of creation of the object.

10. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 , wherein said charge measuring device is included in said time measuring apparatus.

11. The secure electronic entity according to claim 10 , wherein the capacitive component is a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) capacitor whose dielectric space consists of a silicon oxide.

12. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 , wherein the capacitive component is a metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) capacitor whose dielectric space consists of a silicon oxide.

13. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 ,
wherein the charge measuring device comprises a field-effect transistor having an insulative layer,
wherein the capacitive component includes an insulative layer, and
wherein a thickness of the insulative layer of the field-effect transistor is greater than a thickness of the insulative layer of the capacitive component.

14. The secure electronic entity according to claim 13 , wherein the thickness of the insulative layer of the capacitive component is from 4 to 10 nanometers.

15. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 ,
wherein the time measuring apparatus comprises at least two of said subsystems,
wherein said capacitive components of said at least two subsystems have different leaks across respective dielectric spaces of said capacitive components, and
wherein the time measuring apparatus also includes a charge information processor that measures respective measured residual charges in said at least two capacitive components to extract information from said measurements independent of heat input to said electronic entity during the time that has elapsed since the reference time.

16. The secure electronic entity according to claim 15 , wherein said charge information processor is in communication with a data store having software stored thereon for causing the charge information processor to calculate a predetermined function for determining said information as a function of said measurements and substantially independently of heat input.

17. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 , configured as a microcircuit card.

18. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 , configured as a Personal Computer Memory Card International Architecture (PCMCIA) card.

19. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 , configured as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card.

20. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 , wherein the reference time is set at the creation of the object.

21. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 , wherein the coupling structure is adapted to only couple once to the capacitive component to the electrical power supply.

22. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 , wherein the coupling structure is adapted to couple the capacitive component to the electrical power supply each time the secure electronic entity is energized.

23. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 , comprising more than one object stored in the memory apparatus, and a respective time measuring apparatus for each of said more than one object.

24. The secure electronic entity according to claim 1 ,
wherein said electrical power supply is an external power supply,
and
wherein said residual charge decreases as a function of time from a moment when said capacitive component is decoupled from the external power supply.

25. A secure electronic entity, comprising:
a microcircuit card, having provided thereon
a memory device having stored therein an object comprising content constituting an application, operable by said microprocessor to cause the microprocessor to operate in a predetermined manner,
a time measuring device that measures a time that has elapsed from a reference time associated with the content of any of said object, said time measuring device comprising
a capacitive component subject to leakage across a dielectric space of the capacitive component,
a coupling structure that couples said capacitive component to

Assignees

• Abgrall Renan
• Geffrotin Bernard
• Idemia France

Inventors

• Abgrall Renan
• Geffrotin Bernard

Classifications

• G07F7/1008 Primary

  Active credit-cards provided with means to personalise their use, e.g. with PIN-introduction/comparison system · CPC title

• G04F1/005

  using electronic timing, e.g. counting means (pulse time delay arrangements H03K5/13; modifications of electronic switches for introducing a time delay before switching H03K17/28) · CPC title

• G07F7/084

  Additional components relating to data transfer and storing, e.g. error detection, self-diagnosis · CPC title

• G06K19/073

  Special arrangements for circuits, e.g. for protecting identification code in memory (protection against unauthorised use of computer memory G06F12/14) · CPC title

• G07C1/10

  together with the recording, indicating or registering of other data, e.g. of signs of identity · CPC title