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:
Feb. 23, 2016
Filed:
Jan. 06, 2014
Altera Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Dirk Reese, Campbell, CA (US);
Thomas H. White, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Altera Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
Circuits, methods, and apparatus that provide for protection of configuration bitstreams from theft. One exemplary embodiment receives a scrambled configuration bitstream with an integrated circuit. The scrambled configuration bitstream is descrambled using a plurality of multiplexers under control of a security key. A configuration bitstream is received in portions. One specific embodiment uses a key stored in memory to control a bank of multiplexers that descramble each of the received portions of the configuration bitstream. Other embodiments store longer keys, and use portions of the keys to descramble one or more portions of their respective configuration bitstreams. The outputs of the multiplexers are then stored in configuration memory cells.