Tamper-respondent assembly with sensor connection adapter

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10321589-B2
Application number	US-201615268959-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 19, 2016
Priority date	Sep 19, 2016
Publication date	Jun 11, 2019
Grant date	Jun 11, 2019

Abstract

Tamper-respondent assemblies and methods of fabrication are provided which include an enclosure, a tamper-detect sensor, a monitor, and a sensor connection adapter. The enclosure encloses, at least in part, one or more electronic components to be protected, and the tamper-detect sensor is disposed over an inner surface of the enclosure to facilitate defining a secure volume about the electronic component(s). The tamper-detect sensor includes sensor lines disposed over the inner surface of the enclosure, and the monitor monitors the tamper-detect sensor for a tamper event. The sensor connection adapter is coupled to the inner surface of the enclosure, and is disposed over the tamper-detect sensor within the secure volume. The sensor connection adapter facilitates electrically connecting the monitor to the sensor lines of the tamper-detect sensor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A tamper-respondent assembly comprising:
an enclosure to enclose, at least in part, at least one electronic component;
a tamper-detect sensor disposed over an inner surface of the enclosure to facilitate defining a secure volume about the at last one electronic component, the tamper-detect sensor including sensor lines disposed over the inner surface of the enclosure;
a monitor to monitor the tamper-detect sensor for a tamper event; and
a sensor connection adapter adhesively coupled at discrete points to the inner surface of the enclosure, and disposed over the tamper-detect sensor within the secure volume, with a portion of the sensor lines of the tamper-detect sensor being disposed between the inner surface of the enclosure and the sensor connection adapter, the sensor connection adapter facilitating electrically connecting the monitor to the sensor lines of the tamper-detect sensor, and the sensor connection adapter dislodging from the inner surface of the enclosure with an attempted tamper event into the secure volume through the enclosure and the sensor connection adapter, the dislodging facilitating detection of the attempted tamper event by breaking, at least in part, electrical connection of the monitor to the sensor lines of the tamper-detect sensor.

2. The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 1 , wherein the sensor connection adapter comprises a carrier with circuit lines, the carrier residing over a portion of the sensor lines of the tamper-detect sensor.

3. The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 2 , wherein the sensor connection adapter electrically connects to the sensor lines of the tamper-detect sensor via at least one first connector.

4. The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 3 , wherein the at least one first connector comprises a connector type selected from the group consisting of a wire-bond connector, a solder-ball connector, a spring connector, and a zebra strip connector.

5. The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 3 , wherein the sensor lines of the tamper-detect sensor have a line width, and wherein the at least one first connector has a different width than the line width of the sensor lines.

6. The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 3 , wherein the sensor connection adapter electrically connects to the monitor via, at least in part, at least one second connector, the at last one second connector being a different connector type than the at least one first connector.

7. The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 6 , wherein the at least one second connector comprises a ribbon cable connector.

8. The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 2 , wherein the sensor connection adapter electrically connects to the sensor lines of the tamper-detect sensor via a first set of connectors, and the sensor connection adapter electrically connects to the monitor via, at least in part, a second set of connectors, the first set of connectors including a larger number of connectors than the second of connectors.

9. The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 8 , wherein the carrier comprises a rigid substrate adhesively coupled at N discrete points to the enclosure via a thermoset material selected to provide a desired breaking interface of the carrier to the enclosure, and wherein the first set of connectors open circuit with dislodging of the carrier from the enclosure.

10. The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 1 , further comprising:
a multilayer circuit board; and
an embedded tamper-detect sensor embedded within the multilayer circuit board, the tamper-detect sensor disposed over the inner surface of the enclosure and the embedded tamper-detect sensor within the multilayer circuit board together facilitating defining the secure volume within which the at least one electronic component resides.

11. A tamper-respondent assembly comprising:
at least one electronic component;
an enclosure enclosing, at least in part, the at least one electronic component;
a tamper-detect sensor disposed over an inner surface of the enclosure to facilitate defining a secure volume about the at least one electronic component, the tamper-detect sensor including sensor lines disposed over the inner surface of the enclosure;
a monitor to monitor the tamper-detect sensor for a tamper event; and
a sensor connection adapter adhesively coupled at discrete points to the inner surface of the enclosure, and disposed over the tamper-detect sensor within the secure volume, with a portion of the sensor lines of the tamper-detect sensor being disposed between the inner surface of the enclosure and the sensor connection adapter, the sensor connection adapter facilitating electrically connecting the monitor to the sensor lines of the tamper-detect sensor, and the sensor connection adapter dislodging from the inner surface of the enclosure with an attempted tamper event into the secure volume through the enclosure and the sensor connection adapter, the dislodging facilitating detection of the attempted tamper event by breaking, at least in part, electrical connection of the monitor to the sensor lines of the tamper-detect sensor.

12. The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 11 , wherein the sensor connection adapter comprises a carrier with circuit lines, the carrier residing over a portion of the sensor lines of the tamper-detect sensor.

13. The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 12 , wherein the sensor connection adapter electrically connects to the sensor lines of the tamper-detect sensor via at least one first connector.

14. The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 13 , wherein the at least one first connector comprises a connector type selected from the group consisting of a wire-bond connector, a solder-ball connector, a spring connector, and a zebra strip connector.

15. The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 13 , wherein the sensor lines of the tamper-detect sensor have a line width, and wherein the at least one first connector has a different width than the line width of the sensor lines.

16. The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 13 , wherein the sensor connection adapter electrically connects to the monitor via, at least in part, at least one second connector, the at last one second connector being a different connector type than the at least one first connector.

17. The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 12 , wherein the sensor connection adapter electrically connects to the sensor lines of the tamper-detect sensor via a first set of connectors, and the sensor connection adapter electrically connects to the monitor via, at least in part, a second set of connectors, the first set of connectors including a larger number of connectors than the second of connectors.

18. The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 17 , wherein the carrier comprises a rigid substrate adhesively coupled at N discrete points to the enclosure via a thermoset material selected to provide a desired breaking interface of the carrier to the enclosure, and wherein the first set of connectors open circuit with dislodging of the carrier from the enclosure.

19. The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 11 , further comprising:
a multilayer circuit board; and
an embedded tamper-detect sensor embedded within the multilayer circuit board, the tamper-detect sensor disposed over the inner surface of the enclosure and the embedded tamper-detect sensor within the multilayer circuit board together facilitating defining the secure volume within which the at least one electronic component resides.

20. A fabrication method comprising:
fabricating a tamper-responde

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Dragone Silvio
• Oggioni Stefano S
• Santiago-Fernandez William

Classifications

• H05K1/185

  associated with components encapsulated in the insulating substrate of the PCBs; associated with components incorporated in internal layers of multilayer circuit boards · CPC title

• H05K2201/10371

  Shields or metal cases · CPC title

• H05K2201/10151

  Sensor · CPC title

• H05K1/0275

  Security details, e.g. tampering prevention or detection · CPC title

• G06F21/86

  Secure or tamper-resistant housings · CPC title