Landis+gyr Innovations, Inc.

Landis+gyr Technology, Inc.

August Schack

Rodney Kohout

Ian Jackson Davis

Chad Wolter

Craig Leon Cornwall

Certain aspects of the disclosure are directed toward validation and installation of a file system. A method for mitigating security breach for a circuit platform subject to compromise by unauthorized changes to a file system includes abstracting the file system into an encrypted file with cryptographically signed components. The file system may have instruction code or other data for an operating system and may be stored by or on behalf of the circuit platform. During boot time of the operating system, an unencrypted version of the operating system and the encrypted file may be accessed and used by validating a signature associated with the file system. In response to validating the signature, the file system is installed into a transient, non-persistent storage circuit. As such, the operating system executes instruction code via a central processing unit (CPU) circuit under authorization based on the validated signature.

Validation and installation of a file system

A method for updating firmware includes receiving, at a device, an updated installation package. The updated installation package includes an updated version of an installation package, which belongs to a set of installation packages stored on the device for installation of firmware on the device. The method further includes updating the set of installation packages by replacing the installation package with the updated installation package. The method further includes installing updated firmware in volatile memory of the device based on the updated set of installation packages. The method further includes storing an image of the updated firmware in nonvolatile storage of the device. Additionally, the method includes, during a boot process, loading the image from the nonvolatile memory of the device onto the volatile memory of the device, to enable running the updated firmware from the volatile memory, and verifying the authenticity of the updated firmware.

Package-based remote firmware update

A method for restricting write cycles to a storage device includes tracking a first count of a first set of writes to memory executed by a first subsystem of a computing device and, further, determining that the first count meets a write threshold of the first subsystem. The method includes determining that blocking criteria are met by the first subsystem based on the first count exceeding the write threshold of the first subsystem and, further, determining that blocking criteria are not met by a second subsystem of the computing device. The method includes blocking the first set of writes from being synchronized to the storage device, based on the blocking criteria being met by the first subsystem, and synchronizing memory contents of the second subsystem to the storage device, based on the blocking criteria not being met by the second subsystem.

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Brainerd, MN, United States of America

August Schack