Cryptographic ASIC with onboard permanent context storage and exchange

摘要

A cryptographic application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and method for autonomously storing context data into a one-time programmable memory in isolation are presented. The stored data describes product environmental history following manufacture, which may assist in assessing of a request for a refund or replacement of a defective product, such as an ASIC. The data may be cryptographically protected for retrieval and validation only by a manufacturer or authorized vendor. In another embodiment, communications between individual integrated circuits in a product may be secured by storing encryption keys as the context data, and exchanging the context data. The context data may be stored during manufacture, or thereafter. Such integrated circuits may be secured against replay attacks that capitalize on loss of context data that occurs when volatile memory is reset through power cycling, and enable inter-chip communications to be managed as are communications between unknown parties in an untrusted network.