The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 28, 2008
Filed:
May. 29, 2002
Thiru Gnanasabapathy, Sugar Land, TX (US);
David P. Foley, Houston, TX (US);
Thiru Gnanasabapathy, Sugar Land, TX (US);
David P. Foley, Houston, TX (US);
Texas Instruments Incorporated, Dallas, TX (US);
Abstract
A system and method for preventing unauthorized access to the software of a semiconductor device is provided. The semiconductor device of the present invention includes a memory buffer in the data path between the processor core of the device and the memory of the device. A password for providing full communication in the data path is stored in a defined location in the memory. Upon reading the memory location, the password is provided to a code security module. The password provided to the code security module is compared to a data string provided by the user. If the password and the data string match, the password data path is open for communication between the memory and the processor core. If the password and data string do not match, the password data path is closed to communication between the memory and the processor core.