Patent US6028939A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US6028939A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Data security system and method
Assignee: RedCreek Communications Inc
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Filing: 1997-01-03
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Granted: 2000-02-22
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Expires: 2017-01-03
Abstract
Abstract A data security system and method for providing a cryptographic process such as the Data Encryption Standard comprises a microprocessor having a programmable hardware element such as a field programmable gate array interfaced to the processor bus. The predetermined ordered sequence of operations which form the cryptographic process are parsed into hardware-centric operations such as bit manipulations, table look-ups and logic operations which are efficiently performed in hardware, and into software-centric operations such as data processing and state machine control. Hardware-centric operations are performed in the programmable hardware device, and overall control of the system is performed under microprocessor control.
Inventors
- 👤 John Yin
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 13:46
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L9/00; H04L9/06; H04L9/0618; H04L9/0625; H04L2209/00; H04L2209/12; H04L2209/122; H04L2209/125; H04L2209/20; H04L2209/24
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 25
Claim 1
Independent Claim
162 words
A data security system for performing a cryptographic process on data represented by bits, the cryptographic process comprising a predetermined repetitive sequence of steps which include bit manipulation operations comprising permutations of bits and substitutions of bits and logical operations, the system comprising a microprocessor; a programmable hardware device connected to the microprocessor, the programmable hardware device comprising a plurality of elements connectable together under program control in different configurations of elements for performing different functions, the elements being connected to perform said bit manipulation and logical operations of said cryptographic processes; program means within the microprocessor for moving data to and from the hardware device and for controlling the hardware device to repetitively perform said bit manipulation and logical operations in accordance with said predetermined sequence of steps so as to perform said cryptographic process; and means for loading configuration information into the hardware device from the microprocessor upon start-up of the system to connect the elements to perform said operations.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
162 words
A data security system for performing a cryptographic process on data represented by bits, the cryptographic process comprising a predetermined repetitive sequence of steps which include bit manipulation operations comprising permutations of bits and substitutions of bits and logical operations, the system comprising a microprocessor; a programmable hardware device connected to the microprocessor, the programmable hardware device comprising a plurality of elements connectable together under program control in different configurations of elements for performing different functions, the elements being connected to perform said bit manipulation and logical operations of said cryptographic processes; program means within the microprocessor for moving data to and from the hardware device and for controlling the hardware device to repetitively perform said bit manipulation and logical operations in accordance with said predetermined sequence of steps so as to perform said cryptographic process; and means for loading configuration information into the hardware device from the microprocessor upon start-up of the system to connect the elements to perform said operations.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
47 words
The data security system of claim 1, wherein said cryptographic process comprises a predetermined number of iterations of said predetermined sequence of steps, and wherein said program means comprises means for controlling the hardware device to repeat said sequence of steps for the predetermined number of times.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
35 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said programmable hardware device comprises a field programmable gate array, and said elements comprise logic blocks interconnectable to configure the elements for performing said bit manipulation and logical operations.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
53 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said cryptographic process comprises the Data Encryption Algorithm in which said predetermined sequence of steps is iterated for a predetermined number of rounds, and wherein said microprocessor comprises means for deriving from a cryptographic key a different sub key for each of said predetermined number of rounds.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
68 words
The system of claim 1, wherein said cryptographic process comprises a block cipher encryption process wherein each predetermined sequence of steps produces a block of ciphertext, and wherein said microprocessor comprises means for combining a block of ciphertext with a previous block of ciphertext to form a modified block of ciphertext, and means for iterating said combining operation as successive blocks of data are input into the system.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
37 words
The system of claim 1 further comprising a buffer RAM connected to the hardware device for the temporary storage of data being processed by the hardware device and the results of said bit manipulation ad logical operations.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
144 words
A data security system for performing a cryptographic process on data represented by bits, the cryptographic process comprising a predetermined sequence of repetitive operations including bit manipulation operations involving movements of different ones of said bits relative to other ones of said bits, and a plurality of data processing and control operations, the system comprising a microprocessor having a bus; a programmable hardware element connected to the microprocessor by the bus, the programmable hardware element comprising a plurality of functional elements connectable together by the microprocessor in different configurations to perform predetermined functions; first program means within the microprocessor for controlling data movement to and from the programmable hardware element over said bus: and second program means for configuring the programmable hardware element such that said programmable hardware element performs said bit manipulation operations and the microprocessor performs said data processing and control operations.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
144 words
A data security system for performing a cryptographic process on data represented by bits, the cryptographic process comprising a predetermined sequence of repetitive operations including bit manipulation operations involving movements of different ones of said bits relative to other ones of said bits, and a plurality of data processing and control operations, the system comprising a microprocessor having a bus; a programmable hardware element connected to the microprocessor by the bus, the programmable hardware element comprising a plurality of functional elements connectable together by the microprocessor in different configurations to perform predetermined functions; first program means within the microprocessor for controlling data movement to and from the programmable hardware element over said bus: and second program means for configuring the programmable hardware element such that said programmable hardware element performs said bit manipulation operations and the microprocessor performs said data processing and control operations.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
48 words
The system of claim 7, wherein said bit manipulation operations comprise bit permutation and bit substitution operations, and said data processing and control operations comprise data movement over said bus and controlling the operating state of the programmable hardware element to perform said predetermined sequence of repetitive operations.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
24 words
The system of claim 8, wherein said bit manipulation operations further comprise transposition of bits, and said bit substitution operations comprise memory addressing operations.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
122 words
The system of claim 7, wherein said cryptographic process comprises a block cipher process, and wherein said programmable hardware element comprises means for initially permuting bits of a 64-bit block of data; means for dividing the permutated bits into first and second portions; means for expanding the first portion to increase the number of bits in said portion; means for combining the expanded first portion with a sub key to produce a combined block of data; means for converting said combined block into a substituted block having a smaller number of bits; means for permutating the bits in the substituted block; and means for combining the permutated bits with said second portion of the input block to produce a new first portion.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
83 words
The system of claim 10, wherein said microprocessor has first means for controlling the programmable hardware element to produce a first block of ciphertext; second means for combining said block of ciphertext with a vector to produce a first modified block of ciphertext; third means for controlling the programmable hardware element to produce a second block of ciphertext; and fourth means for combining said second block of ciphertext with said first modified block of ciphertext to produce a second modified block of ciphertext.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
59 words
The system of claim 7, wherein said cryptographic process comprises a block cipher process, and wherein said programmable hardware element comprises means for separating the bits of an input block of data into multiple portions; and means for combining predetermined ones of the bits within each portion and between different portions in response to a key using logic operations.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
76 words
The system of claim 7, wherein said bus is a data bus, and the microprocessor further has a control bus for controlling devices connected to the data bus, and wherein said programmable hardware element has first functional elements configured for interfacing to said data bus and for operating at an operating speed of said data bus; and has second functional elements for interfacing to the control bus for controlling the devices connected to said data bus.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of claim 7, wherein said programmable hardware element has functional elements configured to generate random bits.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
20 words
The system of claim 7, wherein said programmable hardware element has functional elements configured to perform a network communications function.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
263 words
A method of performing a cryptographic process on data represented by bits in a system comprising a microprocessor and a programmable hardware device having a plurality of elements which are connectable together under program control by the microprocessor to perform predetermined functions, the cryptographic process comprising a predetermined sequence of repetitive operations including bit manipulation operations involving movement of different ones of said bits relative to other ones of said bits and a plurality of different data processing and control operations, the method comprising configuring the elements of the programmable hardware device using the microprocessor to perform said bit manipulation operations; controlling, using said microprocessor, data flow to and from said programmable hardware device; and controlling the programmable hardware device to perform said predetermined repetitive sequence of steps for a predetermined number of iterations in order to perform said cryptographic process, wherein data flow to and from said programmable hardware device is in blocks comprising multiple bits, and wherein said method comprises performing in said programmable hardware device steps comprising permutating bits of a block of data to rearrange the order of the bits; dividing the permutated bits into first and second portions; expanding the first portion to increase a number of bits in such portion; combining the expanded first portion with a sub key from the microprocessor to produce a combined block of data; converting the combined block into a block having a smaller number of bits; permutating the bits in the smaller block; and combining the permutated bits with the second portion of the block to produce a new first portion.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
263 words
A method of performing a cryptographic process on data represented by bits in a system comprising a microprocessor and a programmable hardware device having a plurality of elements which are connectable together under program control by the microprocessor to perform predetermined functions, the cryptographic process comprising a predetermined sequence of repetitive operations including bit manipulation operations involving movement of different ones of said bits relative to other ones of said bits and a plurality of different data processing and control operations, the method comprising configuring the elements of the programmable hardware device using the microprocessor to perform said bit manipulation operations; controlling, using said microprocessor, data flow to and from said programmable hardware device; and controlling the programmable hardware device to perform said predetermined repetitive sequence of steps for a predetermined number of iterations in order to perform said cryptographic process, wherein data flow to and from said programmable hardware device is in blocks comprising multiple bits, and wherein said method comprises performing in said programmable hardware device steps comprising permutating bits of a block of data to rearrange the order of the bits; dividing the permutated bits into first and second portions; expanding the first portion to increase a number of bits in such portion; combining the expanded first portion with a sub key from the microprocessor to produce a combined block of data; converting the combined block into a block having a smaller number of bits; permutating the bits in the smaller block; and combining the permutated bits with the second portion of the block to produce a new first portion.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
42 words
The method of claim 16 further comprising providing in a memory tables of stored bits having predetermined values, using the programmable hardware device for addressing the memory to retrieve stored bits, and substituting the retrieved bits for predetermined bits in said data.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
79 words
The method of claim 16, wherein said cryptographic process comprises the Data Encryption Algorithm in which said predetermined sequence of steps is iterated for a predetermined number of rounds, and wherein the method comprises deriving in said microprocessor from a cryptographic key different subkeys for each of said predetermined number of rounds, applying the subkeys to data from said programmable hardware device, and controlling the programmable hardware device to perform said repetitive operations for said predetermined number of rounds.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
185 words
A data security system for performing a cryptographic process on data represented by bits, the cryptographic process comprising a predetermined repetitive sequence of steps which include bit manipulation operations comprising permutations of bits and substitutions of bits and logical operations on groups of bits, the system comprising a microprocessor; a hardware device connected to the microprocessor by a first bus over which data is provided to and from said hardware device, the hardware device comprising a plurality of elements connected to perform said bit manipulation and logical operations of said cryptographic processes; a memory connected to said first bus; means connected to a second bus connected to the microprocessor for inputting and outputting data; means for controlling the inputting and outputting means for the input and output of data to the memory and from the memory to the hardware device; and program means within the microprocessor for moving data to and from the hardware device and for controlling the hardware device to repetitively perform said bit manipulation and logical operations in accordance with said predetermined sequence of steps so as to perform said cryptographic process.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
185 words
A data security system for performing a cryptographic process on data represented by bits, the cryptographic process comprising a predetermined repetitive sequence of steps which include bit manipulation operations comprising permutations of bits and substitutions of bits and logical operations on groups of bits, the system comprising a microprocessor; a hardware device connected to the microprocessor by a first bus over which data is provided to and from said hardware device, the hardware device comprising a plurality of elements connected to perform said bit manipulation and logical operations of said cryptographic processes; a memory connected to said first bus; means connected to a second bus connected to the microprocessor for inputting and outputting data; means for controlling the inputting and outputting means for the input and output of data to the memory and from the memory to the hardware device; and program means within the microprocessor for moving data to and from the hardware device and for controlling the hardware device to repetitively perform said bit manipulation and logical operations in accordance with said predetermined sequence of steps so as to perform said cryptographic process.
Claim 24
Independent Claim
188 words
A system comprising multiple data security systems for performing a cryptographic process on data represented by bits, the cryptographic process comprising a predetermined repetitive sequence of steps which include bit manipulation operations comprising permutations of bits and substitutions of bits and logical operations on groups of bits, each data security system comprising a microprocessor; a hardware device connected to the microprocessor, the hardware device comprising a plurality of elements connected to perform said bit manipulation and logical operations of said cryptographic processes; and program means within the microprocessor for moving data to and from the hardware device and for controlling the hardware device to repetitively perform said bit manipulation and logical operations in accordance with said predetermined sequence of steps so as to perform said cryptographic process; and the system further comprising a control microprocessor connected to respective ones of the microprocessors of said data security systems for controlling said microprocessors; means for performing public key operations to generate session keys for respective ones of said data security systems; and means for supplying the session keys to the data security systems to afford simultaneous data security microprocessing operations.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
188 words
A system comprising multiple data security systems for performing a cryptographic process on data represented by bits, the cryptographic process comprising a predetermined repetitive sequence of steps which include bit manipulation operations comprising permutations of bits and substitutions of bits and logical operations on groups of bits, each data security system comprising a microprocessor; a hardware device connected to the microprocessor, the hardware device comprising a plurality of elements connected to perform said bit manipulation and logical operations of said cryptographic processes; and program means within the microprocessor for moving data to and from the hardware device and for controlling the hardware device to repetitively perform said bit manipulation and logical operations in accordance with said predetermined sequence of steps so as to perform said cryptographic process; and the system further comprising a control microprocessor connected to respective ones of the microprocessors of said data security systems for controlling said microprocessors; means for performing public key operations to generate session keys for respective ones of said data security systems; and means for supplying the session keys to the data security systems to afford simultaneous data security microprocessing operations.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2003-02-21 | 2003-08-23 | 2004-02-22 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2007-02-21 | 2007-08-23 | 2008-02-22 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2011-02-21 | 2011-08-23 | 2012-02-22 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |