Koninklijke Philips Corporation N.v.

Nxp B.v.

Detlef Mueller

Wolfgang Buhr

Markus Feuser

Dieter Hagedorn

In an integrated-circuit chip having intercommunicating modular functional units of electrical circuits, wired transmission of sensitive information signals between the functional units of the electrical circuits involves generating a reference signal and coding the sensitive information signals, after being emitted by a generating functional unit in the chip, with the reference signal to disguise the sensitive information represented by the sensitive information signals. The coded sensitive information signals are decoded with the reference signal before the sensitive information signals are received by a processing functional unit in the chip. At least one signal of the reference signal and the decoded sensitive information signals are monitored, and a hacker attack is identified in response to a determination that the decoded sensitive information signal is other than a plausible signal.

Method and configuration for the transmission of signals from generating functional units to processing functional units of electrical circuits

The invention relates to a method and an arrangement for the verification of NV fuses as well as to a corresponding computer program product and to a corresponding computer-readable storage medium which can be used notably for the detection of attacks on the smart card security which modify EEPROM contents and hence also the contents of EEPROM fuses. During the reset phase the fuses are read from the EEPROM. The fuse values successively read out are then automatically verified. One possible implementation is, for example, to load the fuse values read out into a signature register, followed by comparison with a reference value. Appropriate security measures can be activated should the automatic verification indicate an error, for example, due to unauthorized modification of a fuse or attack on the boot operation.

Method and arrangement for the verification of NV fuses as well as a corresponding computer program product and a corresponding computer-readable storage medium

Fuses that selectively disable functional blocks of a circuit are arranged in a multistage structure, wherein if any fuse element in the multistage structure permanently switches off a part of the circuit, no other fuse element in the multistage structure can affect the switching off of the part. Master fuses are provided to selectively disable corresponding stages of the multistage structure. Preferably, the master fuses are arranged in a hierarchy, so that a master fuse at a higher level of the hierarchy selectively disables all of the stages at lower levels of the hierarchy.

Circuit arrangement

Method and arrangement for controlling access to EEPROMs and a corresponding computer software product and a corresponding computer-readable storage medium

To provide an electric or electronic circuit arrangement as well as a method of detecting and/or identifying and/or recording at least an access violation, particularly at least a memory access violation, in a microcontroller provided particularly for a chip card or smart card, with which the source causing this access violation (referred to as break source) as well as the code address occurring upon this violation can be detected and/or identified and/or recorded when an access violation occurs during the program run, the circuit arrangement comprises at least a memory unit; at least an interface unit assigned to the memory unit; at least a processor unit connected to the memory unit particularly via the interface unit for executing instruction codes. These instruction codes can be requested from the interface unit by means of at least a request unit; are run up in at least a fetch or request queue in the request unit; and are decodable by means of at least a decoding unit assigned to the processor unit for running the fetch or request queue, in which a given category of access violation codes is assignable to each given category of access violations. The access violation code replaces the corresponding instruction code, and comprises data such as information on the address, particularly the code address and/or the type and/or the location and/or the source and/or the instant of the access violation.

Growing community of inventors

Barsbuettel, Germany

Detlef Mueller