Secure key storage using physically unclonable functions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9544141-B2
Application number	US-201113996544-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 29, 2011
Priority date	Dec 29, 2011
Publication date	Jan 10, 2017
Grant date	Jan 10, 2017

Abstract

Some implementations disclosed herein provide techniques and arrangements for provisioning keys to integrated circuits/processors. A processor may include physically unclonable functions component, which may generate a unique hardware key based at least on at least one physical characteristic of the processor. The hardware key may be employed in encrypting a key such as a secret key. The encrypted key may be stored in a memory of the processor. The encrypted key may be validated. The integrity of the key may be protected by communicatively isolating at least one component of the processor.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A processor comprising:
at least one interconnect;
a first circuit, coupled to the at least one interconnect, to generate a hardware key based on at least one unique physical characteristic of the processor;
nonvolatile memory, coupled to the first circuit by the at least one interconnect, to store an encrypted key, the encrypted key stored in the nonvolatile memory being a first key received from a tester circuit external to the processor and encrypted using the hardware key;
a second circuit connected to the nonvolatile memory and the first circuit by the at least one interconnect, the second circuit to decrypt the encrypted key stored in the nonvolatile memory with at least the hardware key to provide a decrypted key and generate a validation indicator based on the decrypted key; and
fixed logic circuitry coupled to the first circuit and the second circuit by the at least one interconnect, the fixed logic circuitry to compare the validation indicator to the first key to generate a validator indicating whether the decrypted key is valid and provide the validator to the tester circuit external to the processor, the tester circuit to validate the encrypted key using the validator.

2. A processor as recited in claim 1 , wherein the hardware key is unique to the processor due to manufacturing variations resulting from integrated circuit fabrication of the processor.

3. A processor as recited in claim 1 , wherein the second circuit is only a decryption component.

4. A processor as recited in claim 1 , wherein the nonvolatile memory includes a one-time only programmable memory.

5. A processor as recited in claim 4 , wherein the nonvolatile memory includes at least one fuse.

6. A processor as recited in claim 4 , wherein the nonvolatile memory includes at least one anti-fuse.

7. A processor as recited in claim 1 , wherein the second circuit is includes a decryption component and an encryption component.

8. A processor as recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
at least one contact; and
second fixed logic circuitry to provide, at a first time, a communication path between the at least one contact and at least one of the non-volatile memory, the first circuit, and the second circuit, and wherein at a second time, which is later than the first time, the second fixed logic circuitry permanently disables the communication path.

9. A processor as recited in claim 1 , wherein during manufacture of the processor at a first time, the first circuit generates the hardware key, in response to a challenge from an external device, for the second circuit and for the external device, wherein the external device employs the hardware key to encrypt the first key, stores the encrypted first key into the nonvolatile memory, and reads the encrypted first key from the nonvolatile memory, wherein during the manufacture of the processor at a second time that is after the first time, the processor receives control signals that permanently isolate at least one of the nonvolatile memory, the first circuit, and the second circuit from all devices that are external to the processor.

10. A processor as recited in claim 1 , wherein during manufacture of the processor at a first time, the first circuit generates the hardware key, in response to a challenge from an external device, for the second circuit and for the fixed logic circuitry.

11. A processor as recited in claim 10 , wherein the processor is manufactured such that the nonvolatile memory is never readable nor writable by a device that is external to the processor.

12. A processor as recited in claim 10 , wherein during the manufacture of the processor at a second time that is after the first time, the processor receives control signals that permanently isolate at least one of the nonvolatile memory, the first circuit, and the second circuit from all devices that are external to the processor.

13. A system comprising:
at least one processor comprising:
at least one interconnect;
a first circuit, coupled to the at least one interconnect, to generate a hardware key based on at least one unique physical characteristic of the processor;
nonvolatile memory, coupled to the first circuit by the at least one interconnect, to store an encrypted key, the encrypted key stored in the nonvolatile memory being a first key received from a tester circuit external to the at least one processor and encrypted using the hardware key;
a second circuit connected to the nonvolatile memory and the first circuit by the at least one interconnect, the second circuit to decrypt the encrypted key stored in the nonvolatile memory with at least the hardware key to provide a decrypted key and generate a validation indicator based on the decrypted key; and
fixed logic circuitry coupled to the first circuit and the second circuit by the at least one interconnect, the fixed logic circuitry to compare the validation indicator to the first key to generate a validator indicating whether the decrypted key is valid and provide the validator to the tester circuit external to the at least one processor, the tester circuit to validate the encrypted key using the validator.

14. A system as recited in claim 13 , further comprising:
a key provisioning component to encrypt a reference key with the hardware key and to provide the encrypted reference key to the at least one processor, wherein the reference key is the first key.

15. A system as recited in claim 14 , wherein the key provisioning component validates the encrypted first key stored in the nonvolatile memory by:
retrieving the encrypted first key from the nonvolatile memory,
decrypting the retrieved encrypted first key with at least the hardware key to reveal the first key,
comparing the revealed first key with the reference key, and
detecting that the revealed first key and the reference key match based at least on the comparison of the revealed first key and the reference key.

16. A system as recited in claim 13 , further comprising:
a key provisioning component to provide the first key and control signals to the at least one processor, wherein the first circuit of the at least one processor generates the hardware key in response to the control signals, wherein in response to the control signals, the second circuit encrypts the first key with the hardware key and stores the encrypted first key in the nonvolatile memory.

Assignees

• Li Jiangtao
• Rajan Anand
• Maes Roel
• Mathew Sanu K
• Krishnamurthy Ram
• Brickell Ernie
• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Li Jiangtao
• Rajan Anand
• Maes Roel
• Mathew Sanu K
• Krishnamurthy Ram
• Brickell Ernie

Classifications

• H04L2209/12

  Details relating to cryptographic hardware or logic circuitry · CPC title

• H04L9/0891 Primary

  Revocation or update of secret information, e.g. encryption key update or rekeying · CPC title

• H04L9/0866

  involving user or device identifiers, e.g. serial number, physical or biometrical information, DNA, hand-signature or measurable physical characteristics · CPC title

• G09C1/00

  Apparatus or methods whereby a given sequence of signs, e.g. an intelligible text, is transformed into an unintelligible sequence of signs by transposing the signs or groups of signs or by replacing them by others according to a predetermined system (cryptographic typewriters G09C3/00) · CPC title

• H04L9/0861

  Generation of secret information including derivation or calculation of cryptographic keys or passwords · CPC title