Tamper-respondent assembly with protective wrap(s) over tamper-respondent sensor(s)

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017116830-A1
Application number	US-201514918691-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 21, 2015
Priority date	Oct 21, 2015
Publication date	Apr 27, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

Tamper-respondent assemblies and methods of fabrication are provided which include an inner enclosure, a tamper-respondent sensor(s), a protective wrap(s) and an outer enclosure. The inner enclosure is sized to receive one or more electronic components to be protected, and the tamper-respondent sensor(s) wraps around the inner enclosure. The protective wrap(s) overlies and wraps around the tamper-respondent sensor(s) and inner enclosure, and together the inner enclosure, tamper-respondent sensor(s), and protective wrap(s) form a tamper-respondent subassembly. The outer enclosure receives and surrounds, at least in part, the tamper-respondent subassembly, with the tamper-respondent sensor(s) and protective wrap(s) disposed between the inner enclosure and the outer enclosure. When operative, the inner enclosure, tamper-respondent sensor(s), protective wrap(s) and outer enclosure are coupled together and facilitate conduction of heat from the electronic component(s) out to the outer enclosure.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A tamper-respondent assembly comprising:
an inner enclosure sized to enclose at least one electronic component to be protected; at least one tamper-respondent sensor wrapped around the inner enclosure; at least one protective wrap overlying and wrapped around the at least one tamper-respondent sensor and inner enclosure, wherein the inner enclosure, at least one tamper-respondent sensor and at least one protective wrap form, at least in part, a tamper-respondent subassembly; and an outer enclosure receiving, and surrounding, at least in part, the tamper-respondent subassembly, with the at least one tamper-respondent sensor and at least one protective wrap disposed between the inner enclosure and the outer enclosure.

2 . The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 1 , further comprising an adhesive layer disposed between and securing together the at least one protective wrap and the at least one tamper-respondent sensor.

3 . The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 1 , wherein the adhesive layer is a thermally conductive adhesive layer.

4 . The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one protective wrap comprises a flexible, thermally conductive material.

5 . The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 4 , wherein the inner enclosure is a thermally conductive, inner enclosure, the outer enclosure is a thermally conductive, outer enclosure, and the at least one protective wrap facilitates conduction of heat from the thermally conductive, inner enclosure to the thermally conductive, outer enclosure.

6 . The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 5 , wherein the at least one protective wrap comprises at least one layer of thermally conductive gap filler material.

7 . The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 6 , further comprising a thermally conductive adhesive layer disposed between and securing together the at least one protective wrap and the at least one tamper-respondent sensor.

8 . The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 5 , further comprising an outer enclosure cap, the outer enclosure and the outer enclosure cap together surrounding and enclosing the tamper-respondent subassembly.

9 . The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 8 , wherein the outer enclosure is mounted to a circuit board, and the outer enclosure cap is disposed between the tamper-respondent subassembly and the circuit board.

10 . The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 9 , wherein the outer enclosure cap comprises a thermally conductive plate disposed between the tamper-respondent subassembly and the circuit board.

11 . The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 1 , wherein the at least one tamper-respondent sensor comprises:
at least one flexible layer having opposite first and second sides; and circuit lines forming at least one tamper-detect network, the circuit lines being disposed on at least one of the first side or the second side of the at least one flexible layer, and the circuit lines having a line width W l ≦200 μm, and a line-to-line spacing width W s ≦200 μm.

12 . A tamper-proof electronic package comprising:
at least one electronic component to be protected; a tamper-respondent assembly comprising:
an inner enclosure surrounding and enclosing, at least in part, the at least one electronic component;
at least one tamper-respondent sensor wrapped around and covering the inner enclosure;
at least one protective wrap overlying and wrapped around the at least one tamper-respondent sensor and inner enclosure, wherein the inner enclosure, at least one tamper-respondent sensor and at least one protective wrap form, at least in part, a tamper-respondent subassembly; and
an outer enclosure receiving, and surrounding, at least in part, the tamper-respondent subassembly, with the at least one tamper-respondent sensor and at least one protective wrap disposed between the inner enclosure and the outer enclosure.

13 . The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 12 , further comprising an adhesive layer, disposed between and securing together the at least one protective wrap and the at least one tamper-respondent sensor, the adhesive layer being a thermally conductive adhesive layer.

14 . The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 12 , wherein the at least one protective wrap comprises a flexible, thermally conductive material, and the inner enclosure is a thermally conductive, inner enclosure, the outer enclosure is a thermally conductive, outer enclosure, and the at least one protective wrap facilitates conduction of heat from the thermally conductive, inner enclosure to the thermally conductive, outer enclosure.

15 . The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 14 , wherein the at least one protective wrap comprises at least one layer of thermally conductive gap filler material, and wherein the tamper-respondent assembly further comprises a thermally conductive adhesive layer disposed between and securing together the at least one protective wrap and the at least one tamper-respondent sensor.

16 . The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 14 , further comprising an outer enclosure cap, the outer enclosure and the outer enclosure cap together surrounding and enclosing the tamper-respondent assembly.

17 . The tamper-respondent assembly of claim 16 , wherein the outer enclosure is mounted to a circuit board, and the outer enclosure cap is disposed between the tamper-respondent subassembly and the circuit board.

18 . A method of fabricating a tamper-respondent assembly, the method comprising:
providing an inner enclosure sized to receive at least one electronic component to be protected; wrapping at least one tamper-respondent sensor around the inner enclosure; providing at least one protective wrap overlying the at least one tamper-respondent sensor and wrapping around the at least one tamper-respondent sensor and inner enclosure, wherein the inner enclosure, at least one tamper-respondent sensor and at least one protective wrap form, at least in part, a tamper-respondent subassembly; and providing an outer enclosure sized to receive and surround, at least in part, the tamper-respondent subassembly, with the at least one tamper-respondent sensor and the at least one protective sheet disposed between the inner enclosure and the outer enclosure.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising securing together the at least one protective wrap and the at least one tamper-respondent sensor using an adhesive layer disposed between the at least one protective wrap and the at least one tamper-respondent sensor.

20 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the at least one protective wrap comprises at least one layer of thermally conductive gap filler material, and wherein the method further comprises providing a thermally conductive adhesive layer disposed between the at least one protective wrap and the at least one tamper-respondent sensor to secure together the at least one protective wrap and at least one tamper-respondent sensor.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Isaacs Phillip Duane

Classifications

• G08B13/128 Primary

  the housing being an electronic circuit unit, e.g. memory or CPU chip (protecting computer components in secure or tamper resistant housings G06F21/86; protecting computer input devices, e.g. keyboards G06F21/83) · CPC title