JP2005209108A - Microcomputer with external memory - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a microcomputer with an external memory, wherein security for the external memory is enhanced. <P>SOLUTION: In a boot mode, a CPU 21 reads security code written in a register 321 and selects an encryption program designated by the security code, from a plurality of encryption programs preliminarily stored in a boot memory 25 and uses this selected encryption program to encrypt an address and data in a flash memory 3, which are inputted from a serial I/O 23 and transfers the encrypted address and data to the flash memory 3 through a flash memory I/F 22. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a memory external microcomputer having a security function for an external memory.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to respond to an increase in the size of a program and a request for rewriting a program, a memory external microcomputer that uses a flash memory externally attached to an MCU (microcontroller unit) chip is used.

  However, such a flash memory has a low access speed, and when the microcomputer is operated by directly reading a program from the flash memory, the operation speed of the microcomputer decreases. Therefore, a memory having a high access speed is built in the MCU chip, and a program necessary for the operation is transferred from the flash memory to the built-in memory and used before the operation of the microcomputer.

  However, in such a microcomputer with an external flash memory, there is a risk that the contents of the program may be decoded by a third party looking into the data in the flash memory, and the security of the microcomputer is reduced.

Therefore, in order to enhance the security of the microcomputer system, the data signal and the address signal of the external memory are encrypted using a signal conversion means such as an exclusive OR circuit. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).
JP 2000-29790 A (Page 4, FIG. 1)

  However, in the case of hardware encryption such as the above-described exclusive OR circuit, there is always a problem that only the same encryption can be performed, and there is a high possibility that the encryption is forgotten by the operation analysis of the microcomputer.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a memory external microcomputer with enhanced security for the external memory.

  According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a memory external microcomputer including an MCU chip and a memory that is externally attached to the MCU chip and exchanges data with the MCU chip. Comprises a CPU, a boot memory storing an encryption program and a decryption program read in the boot mode, and a buffer memory storing data transferred from the external memory, and the external connection from the MCU chip When transferring data to the memory, the CPU encrypts and transfers the address and data given to the external memory using the encryption program, and when transferring data from the external memory to the buffer memory The CPU stores the decryption program for the address and data of the external memory. Memory external microcomputer, which comprises transferring decrypts There is provided.

  According to the present invention, since the data to be transferred to the external memory is encrypted by the program, the encryption method can be changed at any time, and the security for the external memory can be enhanced.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a memory external microcomputer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The memory external microcomputer 1 has an MCU chip 2 and a flash memory 3 which is an external memory for transferring data between the MCU chip 2. Note that the external memory is not limited to the flash memory, but may be other types as long as the data can be rewritten.

  The MCU chip 2 includes a flash memory I / F 22 that performs an interface (I / F) for data transfer between the CPU 21 and the flash memory 3, and a serial I / F that serially inputs data to be transferred to the flash memory 3. O23, a buffer memory 24 for storing data transferred from the flash memory 3, a boot memory 25 for storing a program read in the boot mode, and an address controller 26 for generating addresses to be given to the respective memories. .

  The flash memory I / F 22 is provided with a register 221 that is a 3-word register (represented as Reg0, Reg1, Reg2) for storing a 3-word security code, which will be described later. The address of the register 221 is also given by the address controller 26.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a memory address map in the present embodiment.

  Here, addresses 000H to 3FFH in hexadecimal notation are used as an area of the buffer memory 24, addresses 400H to 402H are used as an area of the register 221, and addresses 402H to 7FFH are used as an area of the flash memory 3. Therefore, when transferring the data stored in the flash memory 3 to the buffer memory 24, the address may be shifted by subtracting 400H from the address of the flash memory 3.

  Next, data encryption / decryption executed when data is transferred between the MCU chip 2 and the flash memory 3 in this embodiment will be described.

  In the present embodiment, when data is transferred from the MCU chip 2 to the flash memory 3, not only the data to be written to the flash memory 3 is encrypted, but also the address of the flash memory 3 is encrypted. Therefore, when data is transferred from the flash memory 3 to the MCU chip 2, data decoding and address decoding are performed. At this time, the address decoding is performed after the address is shifted from the address area of the flash memory 3 to the address area of the buffer memory 24 on the address map.

  Encryption and decryption in the present embodiment are all programmed, and encryption and decryption are performed by the CPU 21 executing this program.

  A plurality of encryption methods are prepared, and a pair of encryption program and decryption program corresponding to each method is prepared. A plurality of pairs of the encryption program and the decryption program are stored in the boot memory 25.

  Which of the plurality of encryption programs and decryption programs is used is determined by the value of the security code stored in the register 221 via the serial I / O. In the present embodiment, a 3-word security code xyz is used. Note that the security code is not limited to 3 words, and may be arbitrarily increased or decreased. However, the number of words in the register 221 needs to be changed according to the number of words in the security code.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a relationship between an example of an encryption method and a decryption method and a security code. Here, an example is shown in which three types of security codes x1y1z1, x2y2z2, and x3y3z3 correspond to three types of encryption methods and decryption methods.

  For example, for the security code x1y1z1, the address encryption / decryption method corresponds to “swapping odd and even”, and the data encryption / decryption method corresponds to “inversion of each bit”. Further, for the security code x2y2z2, the address encryption / decryption method corresponds to “exchange MSB and LSB”, and the data encryption / decryption method corresponds to “take 2's complement”. For the security code x3y3z3, the address encryption / decryption method corresponds to “inversion of each bit”, the data encryption method is “add address value”, and the decryption method is “address Subtracting the value corresponds.

  In the present embodiment, the determination of the encryption method and the execution of data transfer are also programmed, and these programs are also stored in the boot memory 25. FIG. 4 shows examples of these programs.

  FIG. 4A is an example of an encryption method determination program. This program includes the following execution steps.

  (Step 1) Receive security code from serial I / O, (Step 2) Save security code in register, (Step 3) Read security code from register, (Step 4) Decrypt security code (Step 5) These are the steps of determining the encryption method, (step 6) selecting the encryption program, and (step 7) selecting the decryption program.

  By executing this program, an encryption program and a decryption program corresponding to the security code input from the outside are selected.

  FIG. 4B is an example of a program used when data received by the serial I / O 23 is transferred to the flash memory 3. This program includes the following execution steps.

  That is, (Step 1) receiving 1 word of data from the serial I / O, (Step 2) executing the encryption program, and (Step 3) writing to the flash memory.

  By executing this program, the address and data of the flash memory 3 received by the serial I / O 23 are encrypted and transferred to the flash memory 3.

  FIG. 4C shows an example of a program used when data read from the flash memory 3 is transferred to the buffer memory 24. This program includes the following execution steps.

  That is, (Step 1) receiving 1 word of data from the flash memory, (Step 2) executing the decoding program, and (Step 3) writing to the buffer memory.

  By executing this program, the address and data in the flash memory 3 are decoded and transferred to the buffer memory 24.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation flow when data is transferred from the MCU chip 2 to the flash memory 3 using the above-described program. In this embodiment, the data transfer from the MCU chip 2 to the flash memory 3 is executed when the memory external microcomputer 1 is in the boot mode.

  When the boot mode is started (step S1), the boot memory 25 is read (step S2). By reading the boot memory 25, the encryption method determination program stored in the boot memory 25, the transfer program from the serial I / O to the flash memory, the transfer program from the flash memory to the buffer memory, the encryption program, and the decryption A program or the like is read out.

  Next, a security code input from the outside via the serial I / O 23 is received (step S3). Using this security code, it is determined which encryption program and decryption program the encryption method determination program uses (step S4).

  Thereafter, when the input of data to be stored in the flash memory 3 is started from the serial I / O 23, data is received one word at a time using a transfer program from the serial I / O to the flash memory (step S5), and the encryption program Is encrypted (step S6) and written to the flash memory 3 (step S7). The encryption and writing to the flash memory 3 are repeated until all the data has been written (step S8), and the transfer of the data to the flash memory 3 is completed (step S9). When all the boot operations are finished, the boot mode is finished (step S10).

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation flow when data is transferred from the flash memory 3 to the buffer memory 24. In this embodiment, data transfer from the flash memory 3 to the buffer memory 24 is executed when an external reset request is made to the microcomputer 1 attached to the memory.

  When the transfer of data from the flash memory 3 to the buffer memory 24 is started (step S51), the flash memory 3 is read from the flash memory 3 read from the boot memory in the boot mode using the transfer program to the buffer memory. Data is read one word at a time (step S52), decoded by a decoding program (step S53), and written to the buffer memory 24 (step S54). Decoding and writing to the buffer memory 24 are repeated until all data has been written (step S55), and data transfer to the buffer memory 24 is completed (step S56).

  FIG. 7 is an operation waveform diagram when data is transferred from the MCU chip 2 to the flash memory 3. Here, x1y1z1 shown in FIG. 3 is given as a security code, and an operation when an encryption program based on an encryption method corresponding to this security code is executed is shown as an example. In this case, “odd and even switching” is performed for the addresses, that is, the addresses before and after are replaced, and “inversion of each bit” is performed for the data. Here, the data in which each bit is inverted with respect to the original data is denoted by “!”. Each operation is executed in synchronization with the clock.

  In the boot mode, when the security codes x1, y1, and z1 are sequentially input from the serial I / O 23 together with the address values 400H, 401H, and 402H, the security codes x1, y1, and z1 are respectively stored in the registers Reg0, Reg1, and Reg2 of the register 221. Stored. The CPU 21 reads the security codes x1, y1, and z1 stored in the register 221 to select an encryption method, and an encryption program to be used is determined.

  Subsequently, data to be written to the flash memory 3 from the serial I / O 23 is sequentially input together with the address value of the flash memory 3. Here, when the encryption program is executed, the address value 403H input first is converted into 404H, and the data a is! It is converted to a and transferred to the flash memory 3. Subsequently, the address value 404H input from the serial I / O 23 is converted into 403H, and the data b is! converted to b. Thereafter, the above encryption is repeated until the final data.

  FIG. 8 is an operation waveform diagram when data is transferred from the flash memory 3 to the buffer memory 24. Here, the operation when the data written to the flash memory 3 by the operation shown in FIG. 7 is transferred to the buffer memory 24 is shown as an example.

  When an external reset request (H level) is input and reading of data from the flash memory 3 is started, a decryption program that executes decryption paired with encryption is executed. In other words, “odd and even switching” of addresses and “inversion of each bit” of data are performed. However, for the address, a shift (subtraction for 400H) from the address area of the flash memory 3 to the address area of the buffer memory 24 is also performed.

  As a result, the address value 403H of the flash memory 3 is sequentially converted into 004H, 404H is converted into 003H, and the data is! b goes to b! a is sequentially converted to a and transferred to the buffer memory 24.

  FIG. 9 shows how the above-described security code x1y1z1 is encrypted and decrypted with respect to the flash memory 3.

  The address and data of the flash memory 3 input to the serial I / O are encrypted and transferred to the flash memory 3. Therefore, the data stored in the flash memory 3 is different from the data input from the original serial I / O, and the order of addresses is different from the order input from the serial I / O.

  On the other hand, when transferring from the flash memory 3 to the buffer memory 22, the address and data of the flash memory 3 are decoded. Therefore, the data stored in the buffer memory 22 is the same as the data input from the original serial I / O, and the order of the addresses is the same as the order input from the serial I / O.

  In this embodiment, since the encryption program can be selected from a plurality of programs, the encryption method can be changed at any time, and the encryption method can be prevented from becoming uniform. . Further, since encryption is performed by a program regardless of hardware, it is possible to prevent the encryption method from being analyzed by hardware analysis such as chip disassembly. Furthermore, since not only the data stored in the external memory is encrypted, but also the address of the external memory is encrypted, security for the external memory can be further enhanced.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the memory external microcomputer which concerns on the Example of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the address map of the memory of the memory external microcomputer which concerns on the Example of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the encryption method in the memory external microcomputer which concerns on the Example of this invention, and a decoding method. The figure which shows the example of the program stored in the boot memory of the memory external microcomputer which concerns on the Example of this invention. The flowchart which shows the flow of the data transfer operation | movement to the external memory in the memory external microcomputer which concerns on the Example of this invention. The flowchart which shows the flow of the data transfer operation | movement from the external memory in the memory external microcomputer which concerns on the Example of this invention. FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram showing a state of data transfer operation to an external memory in the memory external microcomputer according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram showing a state of data transfer operation from an external memory in a memory external microcomputer according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the mode of encryption / decryption in the memory external microcomputer which concerns on the Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Memory external microcomputer 2 MCU chip 3 Flash memory 21 CPU
22 Flash memory I / F
23 Serial I / O
24 buffer memory 25 boot memory 26 address controller 221 register

Claims (5)

A memory external microcomputer comprising: an MCU chip; and a memory externally attached to the MCU chip to exchange data with the MCU chip,
The MCU chip includes a CPU;
A boot memory storing an encryption program and a decryption program read in the boot mode;
A buffer memory for storing data transferred from the external memory,
When transferring data from the MCU chip to the external memory, the CPU encrypts and transfers the address and data given to the external memory using the encryption program, and transfers the data from the external memory to the buffer memory. An external memory microcomputer characterized in that when transferring data to the external memory, the CPU decodes and transfers the address and data of the external memory using the decryption program.   2. The memory external microcomputer according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of pairs of an encryption program and a decryption program are stored in the boot memory, and one of the pairs is selected in the boot mode.   3. The memory external microcomputer according to claim 2, wherein the selection of the pair of encryption program and decryption program is performed according to a value of a security code input from the outside.   2. The memory external microcomputer according to claim 1, wherein data transfer from the MCU chip to the external memory is performed in a boot mode.   2. The memory external microcomputer according to claim 1, wherein data transfer from the external memory to the buffer memory is performed when an external reset request is made.

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