Semiconductor device and control method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12417303-B2
Application number	US-202318482938-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 9, 2023
Priority date	Oct 15, 2018
Publication date	Sep 16, 2025
Grant date	Sep 16, 2025

Abstract

The semiconductor device includes a control unit having redundant processors, a memory storing target data, a secure memory storing a key used for encryption or decryption processing, an cryptographic unit, a secure processor instructing cryptographic processing to the cryptographic unit in response to a request from the control unit, a first bus coupled to the control unit, the memory, the cryptographic unit, and the secure processor, and a second bus coupled to the secure memory, the cryptographic unit, and the secure processor. The control unit communicates with the memory via a predetermined error detection mechanism, the cryptographic unit includes a plurality of cryptographic processors that independently perform cryptographic processing on target data using a key based on an instruction, and each of the plurality of cryptographic processors includes a data transfer unit that performs data transfer with the memory via the error detection mechanism.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A semiconductor device comprising:
a memory that stores data;
a secure memory that stores a key used for encryption or decryption;
a controller that 1) generates a cryptographic request for the data and 2) includes a master processor and a checker processor that execute a same process as one another in a lock step, a result of the checker processor being compared with a result of the master processor;
a secure processor that sets setting information for the data based on the cryptographic request;
a master cryptographic engine that includes a data transfer which transfers the data in the memory based on the setting information and a cryptographic circuit which performs a cryptographic process on the transferred data using the key;
a checker cryptographic engine that includes a data transfer which transfers the data in the memory based on the setting information and a cryptographic circuit which performs a cryptographic process on the transferred data using the key based on the setting information; and
a comparator that verifies the cryptographic processes performed by the master and checker cryptographic engines by comparing a result of the cryptographic process of the master cryptographic engine with a result of the cryptographic process of the checker cryptographic engine,
wherein the setting information is checked by the controller after the cryptographic processes by the master and checker cryptographic engines are completed.

2. The semiconductor device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the data transfer of the master cryptographic engine transfers the data without using the secure processor, and
wherein the data transfer of the checker cryptographic engine transfers the data without using the secure processor.

3. The semiconductor device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the data transfer of the master cryptographic engine transfers the data via a predetermined error detection mechanism, and
wherein the data transfer of the checker cryptographic engine transfers the data via the predetermined error detection mechanism.

4. The semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein the controller cannot access the secure memory.

5. The semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein the setting information is checked by compared with a request information corresponding to the cryptographic request.

6. The semiconductor device according to claim 1 , wherein the setting information includes an address of the data.

7. The semiconductor device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the cryptographic circuit of the master cryptographic engine performs an AES-GCM process, and
wherein the cryptographic circuit of the checker cryptographic engine performs an AES-GCM process.

Assignees

• Renesas Electronics Corp

Inventors

• Ito Kenichi
• Yamate Akihiro
• Hosotani Akira

Classifications

• G06F21/72 Primary

  in cryptographic circuits · CPC title

• G06F21/79

  in semiconductor storage media, e.g. directly-addressable memories · CPC title

• G06F21/64

  Protecting data integrity, e.g. using checksums, certificates or signatures · CPC title

• G06F21/76

  in application-specific integrated circuits [ASIC] or field-programmable devices, e.g. field-programmable gate arrays [FPGA] or programmable logic devices [PLD] · CPC title

• G06F21/6209 Primary

  to a single file or object, e.g. in a secure envelope, encrypted and accessed using a key, or with access control rules appended to the object itself · CPC title