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:
Oct. 12, 2005
Graeme John Proudler, Bristol, GB;
Dipankar Gupta, Fort Collins, CO (US);
Liqun Chen, Bristol, GB;
Siani Lynne Pearson, Bristol, GB;
Boris Balacheff, Bristol, GB;
Bruno Edgard Van Wilder, Aalst, BE;
David Chan, Monte Sereno, CA (US);
Graeme John Proudler, Bristol, GB;
Dipankar Gupta, Fort Collins, CO (US);
Liqun Chen, Bristol, GB;
Siani Lynne Pearson, Bristol, GB;
Boris Balacheff, Bristol, GB;
Bruno Edgard Van Wilder, Aalst, BE;
David Chan, Monte Sereno, CA (US);
Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P., Houston, TX (US);
Abstract
In a computing platform, a trusted hardware device () is added to the motherboard (). The trusted hardware device () is configured to acquire an integrity metric, for example a hash of the BIOS memory (), of the computing platform. The trusted hardware device () is tamper-resistant, difficult to forge and inaccessible to other functions of the platform. The hash can be used to convince users that that the operation of the platform (hardware or software) has not been subverted in some way, and is safe to interact with in local or remote applications. In more detail, the main processing unit () of the computing platform is directed to address the trusted hardware device (), in advance of the BIOS memory, after release from 'reset'. The trusted hardware device () is configured to receive memory read signals from the main processing unit () and, in response, return instructions, in the native language of the main processing unit (), that instruct the main processing unit to establish the hash and return the value to be stored by the trusted hardware device (). Since the hash is calculated in advance of any other system operations, this is a relatively strong method of verifying the integrity of the system. Once the hash has been returned, the final instruction calls the BIOS program and the system boot procedure continues as normal. Whenever a user wishes to interact with the computing platform, he first requests the integrity metric, which he compares with an authentic integrity metric that was measured by a trusted party. If the metrics are the same, the platform is verified and interactions can continue. Otherwise, interaction halts on the basis that the operation of the platform may have been subverted.