Systems and methods for managing cryptographic keys in a secure microcontroller

摘要

The present invention relates to key management in a secure microcontroller, and more particularly, to systems, devices and methods of automatically and transparently employing logic or physical address based keys that may also be transferred using dedicated buses. A cryptographic engine translates a logic address to at least one physical address, and processes a corresponding data word based on at least one target key. The target key is selected from a plurality of keys based on the logic or physical address. A universal memory controller stores each processed data word in the corresponding physical address within a memory. Each key is associated with a memory region within the memory, and therefore, the logic or physical address associated with a memory region may be used to automatically identify the corresponding target key. A dedicated secure link may be used to transport key request commands and the plurality of keys.

主权项

1. A method of pairing cryptographic keys with memory regions in a secure microcontroller:
receiving a data and a logic address; translating the logic address to at least one physical address; comparing an address with a plurality of area configuration sets, the address being selected from the physical address and the logic address, each area configuration set being associated with a memory region storing data processed based on a particular key; identifying an area configuration set based on the address selected from the physical address and the logic address; receiving a plurality of keys via a dedicated link, the dedicated link being implemented as a serial data interface; selecting a target key from the plurality of keys according to the area configuration set; and processing the data based on the target key, wherein an address range of the memory region is defined by a plurality of area configurations included in the area configuration set.