Stmicroelectronics S.a.

Sgs-thomson Microelectronics S.a.

Stmicroelectronics (rousset) Sas

Stmicroelectronics (grenoble 2) Sas

Sylvie Wuidart

Tien-Dung Do

Luc Wuidart

Mathieu Pierre Lisart

Laurent Sourgen

Sophie Maurice

Alexandre Sarafianos

Fabrice Marinet

Michel Bardouillet

Fabrice Romain

Nicolas Demange

Romain Palmade

Pierre Balthazar

Claude Zahra

Mathieu Pierre Gabriel Lisart

Yveline Guilloux

A near-field communication device operates to transmit data by near-field communications techniques to another device. The near-field communication device includes a memory that stores a message to be transmitted in an ASCII format. The message is retrieved from the memory and transmitted using the near-field communications techniques in an ASCII format.

Memory architecture of a near-field communication device

An integrated circuit, including: a semiconductor substrate of a first conductivity type; a plurality of regions of the first conductivity type vertically extending from the surface of the substrate, each of the regions being laterally delimited all along its periphery by a region of the second conductivity type; and a device for detecting a variation of the substrate resistance between each region of the first conductivity type and an area for biasing the substrate to a reference voltage.

Protection of an integrated circuit against attacks

A method for protecting at least first data of a non-volatile memory from which the extraction of this first data is triggered by the reading or the writing, by a processor from or into the memory, of second data independent from the first data, said first data being provided to a circuit which the processor cannot access.

Protection of secret keys

A method and a device for monitoring a digital signal, wherein a first P-channel MOS transistor is placed in degradation conditions of negative bias temperature instability type during periods when the signal to be monitored is in a first state; a first quantity representative of the saturation current of the first transistor is measured when the signal to be monitored switches to a second state; and a detection signal is switched when this first quantity exceeds a threshold.

Monitoring of the activity of an electronic circuit

A method for scrambling current consumption of an integrated circuit, at least during execution of a confidential operation by the integrated circuit that includes reading confidential data stored therein and/or the calculation of an encryption code is provided. The charge pump is activated to generate current consumption fluctuations on the electrical power supply line of the integrated circuit, at an intensity great enough to mask the current consumption variations associated with the execution of the confidential operation.

Method for scrambling the current consumption of an integrated circuit

A method and a circuit for detecting a binary state supported by an analog symbol, comprising sampling the symbol with a sampling signal based on a frequency having a period shorter than the duration of a symbol, selecting a number of significant samples smaller than the number of samples which would be obtained with a sampling of the symbol at said frequency, and deciding of the symbol state based on the selected samples.

Adaptable demodulator

A memory is secured against an error injection during the reading of a datum. The memory includes: means for reading a reference datum in the memory during a phase of reading a datum stored in the memory; means for comparing the reference datum read with an expected value; and means for generating an error signal if the datum read is different from the expected value. Application is provided particularly but not exclusively to the protection of memories integrated into smart cards.

Device for protecting a memory against attacks by error injection

A method and a circuit for protecting the execution of a calculation by an electronic circuit, conditioning a result of the calculation to states of bits indicative of executions of steps of access in read mode and/or in write mode to storage elements.

Checking the integrity of programs or the sequencing of a state machine

A method for reading of the state of a non-volatile memory element, including conditioning the frequency of a first oscillatory to the state of this element, and comparing the frequency of the first oscillator with the predetermined frequency of a second oscillator, selected between two possible frequency values for the first oscillator, according to the state of the storage element.

Reading of the state of a non-volatile storage element

A digital processing unit for executing program instructions stored in at least two memories and including at least one first register of temporary storage of the operator of a current instruction to be executed and at least a second register of temporary storage of at least one argument or operand of said current instruction, and a protection circuit for submitting, upstream of the register, the operator to a deciphering function if this operator originates from one of the memories or from an area of these memories, identified from the address provided by a program counter. The present invention also relates to a method for protecting a program for updating an electronic circuit and controlling its execution, including at least one step of ciphering or deciphering of program instruction operators.

Secure digital processing unit and method for protecting programs

A memory cell with at least two detectable states among which is an unprogrammed state, comprising, in series between two terminals of application of a read voltage, at least one first branch comprising: a pre-read stage comprising, in parallel, two switchable resistors having different values with a first predetermined difference; and a programming stage formed of a polysilicon programming resistor, a terminal of the programming resistor being accessible by a programming circuit capable of causing an irreversible decrease in its value.

Three-state memory cell

A memory comprises memory cells arranged in a memory array, and an address decoder to apply memory cells selection signals to the memory array according to a read address applied to the memory. The memory comprises an address reconstruction circuit which reconstructs at least one part of the read address from the memory cells selection signals, and supplies a first reconstructed address able to detect an error injection affecting the selection signals. Particularly but not exclusively applicable to the integrated circuits for chip cards.

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Pourrieres, France

Sylvie Wuidart