TW202403545A - Electronic device and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic device and a control method thereof are provided. The electronic device includes a read-only memory (ROM) that stores a first characteristic value of a public key. The control method includes the following steps: reading the public key and a plurality of boot codes of the electronic device from an external storage device; executing the boot codes; and verifying the public key according to the first characteristic value. The public key is used to verify the boot codes, and the number of bits of the first feature value is smaller than the number of bits of the public key. The ROM is arranged on a first chip, and the external storage device is constituted by a second chip.

Description

Electronic device and control method thereof

The present invention relates to an electronic device, and in particular to a startup process of the electronic device and a control method of the electronic device.

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of the boot flow of an electronic device running a Linux system, which mainly includes the following boot procedures: ROM boot (read-only memory (ROM) boot) 110, Miniboot 120 , U-boot 130 and Kernel (core) 140. ROM boot, Miniboot, U-boot and Kernel are well known to those with ordinary knowledge in this technical field, so they will not be described in detail.

In order to prevent the boot process code (i.e. firmware) from being tampered with, the ROM boot 110 will use the public key 122 and the signature 124 to verify the authenticity of the Miniboot 120, and the Miniboot 120 uses the public key 122 and signature 132 to verify the authenticity of U-boot 130. Signature 124 and signature 132 are data generated by using a private key to sign the startup process code (ie, Miniboot 120 and U-boot 130), and the private key and public key 122 are a key pair. .

In order to prevent the public key 122 from being tampered with, the conventional technology stores the public key 122 in a protected storage medium. The disadvantage of the conventional technology is that the size of the public key 122 will greatly affect the cost of the electronic product (the public key 122 The larger it is, the larger the storage media required and the higher the cost).

In view of the shortcomings of the prior art, one objective of the present invention is to provide an electronic device and a control method thereof to improve the shortcomings of the prior art.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an electronic device that accesses an external storage device that stores a public key and a plurality of startup process codes of the electronic device. The electronic device includes: a read-only memory and a computing circuit and an encryption and decryption circuit. The read-only memory is used to store one of the first characteristic values of the public key. The computing circuit is used to execute the startup process codes. The encryption and decryption circuit is used to verify the public key based on the first characteristic value. The public key is used to verify the startup process codes, and the number of bits of the first characteristic value is smaller than the number of bits of the public key. The read-only memory, the calculation circuit and the encryption and decryption circuit are provided on a first chip, and the external storage device is composed of a second chip.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a method for controlling an electronic device. The electronic device includes a read-only memory that stores a first characteristic value of a public key. The method includes: obtaining a first characteristic value from an external storage device. Read the public key and a plurality of startup process codes of the electronic device; execute the startup process codes; and verify the public key according to the first characteristic value. The public key is used to verify the startup process codes, and the number of bits of the first characteristic value is smaller than the number of bits of the public key. The read-only memory is disposed on a first chip, and the external storage device is composed of a second chip.

The technical means embodied in the embodiments of the present invention can improve at least one of the shortcomings of the prior art, so the present invention can reduce costs compared with the prior art.

The features, implementation and effects of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the drawings and examples.

The technical terms used in the following description refer to the idioms in the technical field. If some terms are explained or defined in this specification, the explanation or definition of these terms shall prevail.

The disclosure of the present invention includes electronic devices and control methods thereof. Since some components included in the electronic device of the present invention may be individually known components, the following description will omit details of the known components without affecting the full disclosure and implementability of the device invention. In addition, part or all of the process of the control method of the electronic device of the present invention can be in the form of software and/or firmware, and can be executed by the electronic device of the present invention or its equivalent device, without affecting the sufficiency of the invention of the method. Under the premise of disclosure and implementability, the following description of the method invention will focus on the step content rather than the hardware.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic device 201 is coupled to an external memory 202 (such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM)) and an external storage device 203 (such as flash memory, embedded multimedia card). , eMMC) or secure digital (SD) memory card). The external storage device 203 stores the startup process code Bcode of the electronic device 201 (ie, the firmware related to the startup of the electronic device 201) and the public key Pkey.

The electronic device 201 includes a computing circuit 210, a storage control circuit 220, a ROM control circuit 230, an encryption and decryption circuit 240, a first ROM 250, a second ROM 260 and a storage circuit 270. The storage circuit 270 includes a register 272 and a memory 274 (such as static random access memory (SRAM)). In one embodiment, the electronic device 201 is composed of a chip, and the computing circuit 210, the storage control circuit 220, the read-only memory control circuit 230, the encryption and decryption circuit 240, the first read-only memory 250, the second read-only memory The memory 260 and the storage circuit 270 are provided on this chip, and the external memory 202 and the external storage device 203 are each composed of another chip.

In some embodiments, the boot process code Bcode includes parts other than the ROM boot in Figure 1 (where the public key Pkey can correspond to the public key 122), and the ROM boot is stored in the first read-only memory 250. Program codes related to Miniboot, U-boot and Kernel can be stored in the external storage device 203 in the form of image files. The storage control circuit 220 may read the startup process code Bcode from the external storage device 203 at an appropriate time, and store the startup process code Bcode into the external memory 202 . The calculation circuit 210 and the encryption and decryption circuit 240 can access the external memory 202 to obtain the startup process code Bcode. The startup process code Bcode is executed by the calculation circuit 210. The computing circuit 210 can control the read-only memory control circuit 230 and the encryption and decryption circuit 240 by changing the temporary value of the register 272 .

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method for controlling an electronic device of the present invention, including the following steps.

Step S310: The read-only memory control circuit 230 reads the first characteristic value DGT1 from the second read-only memory 260.

Step S320: The read-only memory control circuit 230 stores the first characteristic value DGT1 in the storage circuit 270, for example, in the memory 274.

Step S330: The computing circuit 210 executes the startup process of the electronic device 201. The startup process of the electronic device 201 will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 4 .

As shown in FIG. 3 , the first characteristic value DGT1 is read from the second read-only memory 260 (step S310 ) before the electronic device 201 is started (step S330 ), and is stored in the storage circuit 270 (step S320 ). More specifically, the read-only memory control circuit 230 is designed to automatically execute step S310 and step S320 once the electronic device 201 is connected to the power supply or turned on. Since the first characteristic value DGT1 plays a key role in the startup process of the electronic device 201 (to be described in detail below), preparing the first characteristic value DGT1 before the startup process starts will help improve the smoothness of the startup process. degree and stability.

FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of an embodiment of the electronic device startup process of the present invention. Please refer to both Figure 2 and Figure 4 for the following discussion.

Step S410: The computing circuit 210 performs ROM boot. More specifically, the computing circuit 210 reads the ROM boot from the first read-only memory 250 and executes the ROM boot. In one embodiment, the ROM boot code includes instructions or codes for initiating public key verification and initiating Miniboot signature verification. The computing circuit 210 will send control instructions when executing the instructions or codes for initiating public key verification and Miniboot signature verification. to the encryption and decryption circuit 240 for the verification process. In one embodiment, the ROM boot code also includes instructions or codes for reading the Miniboot code from the external storage device 203 to a memory of the electronic device 201 , where the memory may be included in the storage circuit 270 , for example.

Step S420: The calculation circuit 210 and the encryption and decryption circuit 240 verify the signature of Miniboot. The signature verification process will be detailed below with Figure 5.

Step S430: Determine whether the verification is successful (success means that the signature is authentic (authentic), that is, the Miniboot has not been tampered with; failure means that the public key Pkey and/or the signature is false (inauthentic), that is, the startup process code Bcode and/or the public key Pkey may have been tampered with). If the verification is successful, the startup process proceeds to step S440; otherwise, the startup process ends (step S490).

Step S440: The computing circuit 210 executes Miniboot, that is, the computing circuit 210 reads Miniboot from the memory of the electronic device 201 and executes it. In one embodiment, the Miniboot code includes instructions or codes for initializing the external memory 202 , and the process of the computing circuit 210 executing Miniboot includes the operation of initializing the external memory 202 .

Step S450: The calculation circuit 210 and the encryption and decryption circuit 240 verify the signature of U-boot. The signature verification process will be detailed below with Figure 5.

Step S460: Determine whether the verification is successful. If the verification is successful (meaning that U-boot has not been tampered with), the startup process proceeds to step S470; otherwise, the startup process ends (step S490).

Step S470: The computing circuit 210 executes U-boot, that is, the computing circuit 210 reads U-boot from the external memory 202 and executes it.

Step S480: The computing circuit 210 executes the Kernel, that is, the computing circuit 210 reads the Kernel from the external memory 202 and executes it.

Step S490: End the startup process, that is, the calculation circuit 210 stops executing the startup process.

In one embodiment, before executing step S480, the computing circuit 210 and the encryption and decryption circuit 240 can also be used to verify the signature of the Kernel, and then execute the Kernel after confirming that the Kernel has not been modified.

Figure 5 is a flow chart of one embodiment of the signature verification process of the present invention, which mainly includes a public key verification program S510 and a signature verification program S520. Please refer to both Figure 2 and Figure 5 for the following discussion.

The public key verification procedure S510 includes the following steps.

Step S512: The encryption and decryption circuit 240 reads the first characteristic value DGT1 from the memory 274 of the storage circuit 270. The first characteristic value DGT1 has been stored in the storage circuit 270 before the startup process starts (step S320). In one embodiment, in order to improve security, only the encryption and decryption circuit 240 in the electronic device 201 can control the read-only memory control circuit 230 to read the first characteristic value DGT1 from the second read-only memory, and the calculation circuit 210 also The first characteristic value DGT1 cannot be read without knowing the position of the first characteristic value DGT1.

Step S514: The calculation circuit 210 reads the public key Pkey from the external storage device 203, and stores the public key Pkey into the register 272 of the storage circuit 270.

Step S516: The calculation circuit 210 performs eigenvalue calculation on the public key Pkey using the first eigenvalue calculation method to obtain the second eigenvalue DGT2 of the public key Pkey, and stores the second eigenvalue DGT2 in the register 272 of the storage circuit 270 . In one embodiment, the encryption and decryption circuit 240 can perform eigenvalue calculation on the public key Pkey to obtain the second eigenvalue DGT2 of the public key Pkey. Before the electronic device 201 leaves the factory, the manufacturer of the electronic device 201 uses the first characteristic value calculation method to perform characteristic value calculation on the public key Pkey to obtain the first characteristic value DGT1, and controls the first characteristic value DGT1 through the read-only memory. The circuit 230 stores to the second read-only memory 260 . In some embodiments, the first eigenvalue calculation method includes but is not limited to a hash algorithm (also known as a hash function), and other eigenvalue calculation methods are also applicable to this case. The length (ie, the number of bits) of the first characteristic value DGT1 is smaller than the length of the public key Pkey.

Step S518: The encryption and decryption circuit 240 reads the second characteristic value DGT2 from the register 272 of the storage circuit 270, and compares the first characteristic value DGT1 with the second characteristic value DGT2.

Step S519: The encryption and decryption circuit 240 determines whether the first characteristic value DGT1 is equal to the second characteristic value DGT2. If the first characteristic value DGT1 is equal to the second characteristic value DGT2, the signature verification procedure S520 is entered; otherwise, the encryption and decryption circuit 240 determines that the signature verification fails.

Since the first eigenvalue DGT1 of the public key Pkey is the result of the operation of the public key Pkey using the first eigenvalue operation method (that is, the first eigenvalue DGT1 can represent the public key Pkey to a certain extent), so in the first If neither the characteristic value DGT1 nor the second characteristic value DGT2 has been tampered with, the result of step S519 should be yes. However, if either of the first characteristic value DGT1 and the second characteristic value DGT2 is tampered with (representing that the electronic device 201 and/or the external storage device 203 is likely to have been maliciously attacked), the calculation circuit 210 should not continue the electronic device 201 and/or the external storage device 203. 201 startup process. Therefore, when the result of step S519 is negative, the encryption and decryption circuit 240 notifies the calculation circuit 210 that the public key Pkey is false through the register 272, and skips the signature verification procedure S520. When the public key Pkey is false, the signature verification procedure S520 will fail. Therefore, the calculation circuit 210 can directly determine that the signature verification fails based on the fact that the public key Pkey is false (ie, the results of step S430 and step S460 are negative) and end the startup process (step S490).

The signature verification procedure S520 includes the following steps.

Step S522: The encryption and decryption circuit 240 reads the startup process code Bcode. More specifically, if step S420 is being executed, the encryption and decryption circuit 240 reads the Miniboot-related program code from the storage circuit 270 at this step; if step S450 is being executed, the encryption and decryption circuit 240 at this step is Read the program code related to U-boot from the external memory 202.

Step S524: The encryption and decryption circuit 240 uses the second characteristic value calculation method to calculate the startup process code Bcode to obtain the third characteristic value of the startup process code Bcode. In some embodiments, the second eigenvalue operation method is equal to the first eigenvalue operation method.

Step S526: The encryption and decryption circuit 240 uses the public key Pkey to decrypt the signature to obtain the fourth characteristic value of the startup process code Bcode. More specifically, if step S420 is being executed, the encryption and decryption circuit 240 decrypts the signature of Miniboot (for example, the signature 124 in Figure 1 ) at this step; if step S450 is being executed, the encryption and decryption circuit 240 is here The step is to decrypt U-boot's signature (for example, signature 132 in Figure 1). If the startup process code Bcode has not been tampered with, the third characteristic value should be equal to the fourth characteristic value.

Step S528: The encryption and decryption circuit 240 determines whether the third characteristic value is equal to the fourth characteristic value. When the third characteristic value is not equal to the fourth characteristic value, it means that at least one of Miniboot (or U-boot) and its signature has been tampered with; at this time, the calculation circuit 210 should stop executing the startup process. Therefore, when the result of step S528 is negative, the encryption and decryption circuit 240 notifies the calculation circuit 210 of the signature verification failure through the register 272 . The result of step S528 is yes, which means the signature verification is successful.

To sum up, because the present invention stores the characteristic value of the public key Pkey (not the public key Pkey itself) in the second read-only memory 260, and the length of the characteristic value is smaller than the length of the public key Pkey, this case can be used Smaller second ROM 260 (i.e., reduced cost of the electronic device 201). For example, if the public key Pkey is the public key of the RSA2048 encryption algorithm or the RSA4096 encryption algorithm, the length of the public key Pkey is 2048 bits or 4096 bits; and, when the first characteristic value DGT1 is the hash function SHA When the result is -256, the length of the first characteristic value DGT1 is 256 bits, which is only 1/8 or 1/16 of 2048 bits or 4096 bits, which greatly reduces the demand for the second read-only memory 260.

In some embodiments, the second read-only memory 260 may be a one time programmable (OTP) read-only memory (ROM) (eg, one time programmable memory). (OTP) memory) or electrically programmable fuse (eFuse)). The one-time programmable read-only memory can prevent data from being tampered with, further ensuring the authenticity of the first characteristic value DGT1. When the second read-only memory 260 is implemented as a one-time programmable read-only memory, storing the characteristic value of the public key Pkey (instead of the public key Pkey itself) can further improve the programming of the second read-only memory 260 The success rate (that is, improving the yield rate of the electronic device 201) is because the number of bits of the characteristic value is smaller than the number of bits of the public key Pkey (the smaller the number of bits of the value to be burned, the greater the success rate of burning). high).

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the one-time programmable read-only memory of the present invention. The one-time programmable read-only memory 600 includes memory blocks 610 and control bits 620 . The memory block 610 can store the aforementioned first characteristic value DGT1, and the control bit 620 indicates whether the memory block 610 can be programmed. When the second ROM 260 is implemented as the one-time programmable ROM 600, the ROM control circuit 230 determines whether to program the memory block 610 according to the value of the control bit 620. For example, when the value of the control bit 620 is 0, the read-only memory control circuit 230 can program the memory block 610 . When the second read-only memory 260 is implemented with the one-time programmable read-only memory 600 in FIG. 6 , the control method of the electronic device of the present invention further includes programming control of the second read-only memory 260 . The process of programming control is shown in Figure 7, including the following steps.

Step S710: Before programming the memory block 610, the read-only memory control circuit 230 reads the value of the control bit 620.

Step S720: Determine whether the control bit 620 is equal to a preset value (eg, bit 0). If equal, the process proceeds to step S730; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S740.

Step S730: The read-only memory control circuit 230 burns the memory block 610.

Step S740: The read-only memory control circuit 230 refuses to program the memory block 610.

Many one-time programmable ROMs are programmed bit by bit. For example, if the value of memory block 610 is "11111010" after being programmed, the 0th and 2nd bits of the value can still be programmed to 1 again, but other bits cannot be programmed. Recorded as 0. The burning control in FIG. 7 can prevent the data in the memory block 610 from being tampered with or maliciously destroyed (such as secondary burning).

In some embodiments, when the first eigenvalue calculation method is a hash algorithm (such as a cryptographic hash function), the first eigenvalue DGT1 and the second eigenvalue DGT2 are both hash values of the public key Pkey. (That is, the result of a hash algorithm, also called a message digest or digest). Because the hash value is quite unique, a partial hash value (such as the first half or the second half of the hash value) is sufficient to represent the public key Pkey. In other words, the second read-only memory 260 can only store part of the first characteristic value DGT1 to further reduce the cost of the electronic device 201 and improve the programming success rate of the one-time programmable read-only memory 600 . When the second read-only memory 260 only stores part of the first characteristic value DGT1, the encryption and decryption circuit 240 compares the corresponding part of the second characteristic value DGT2 with the part of the first characteristic value DGT1 in step S518. .

The computing circuit 210 may be a circuit or electronic component with program execution capabilities, such as a central processing unit, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a microprocessing unit, a digital signal processor (DSP) or equivalent circuits thereof. In other embodiments, those skilled in the art can design the computing circuit 210 based on the above disclosure. That is to say, the computing circuit 210 can be an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) or an ASIC. It is implemented by circuits or hardware such as Programmable Logic Device (PLD).

In some embodiments, the electronic device 201 is a chip, and the electronic device 201, the external memory 202 and the external storage device 203 form an embedded system.

The embedded system of the present invention simultaneously stores the public key Pkey and its first characteristic value DGT1, which helps the electronic device 201 to effectively know whether the embedded system is subject to malicious attacks by fault injection. Because if the embedded system is maliciously attacked by error injection, the public key Pkey and the first characteristic value DGT1 will be changed, so the public key verification procedure S510 will inevitably fail.

Although the foregoing embodiments take the startup process of an electronic device as an example, this is not a limitation of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can appropriately apply the present invention to signature verification procedures of other types of data based on the disclosure of the present invention.

Although the embodiments of the present invention are described above, these embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art may make changes to the technical features of the present invention based on the explicit or implicit contents of the present invention. All these changes may fall within the scope of patent protection sought by the present invention. In other words, the patent protection scope of the present invention must be determined by the patent application scope of this specification.

110: Read-only memory boot (ROM boot) 120:Miniboot 122:Public key 130:U-boot 140: Kernel 124,132:Signature 201: Electronic devices 202:External memory 203:External storage device 210: Calculation circuit 220: Storage control circuit 230: Read-only memory control circuit 240: Encryption and decryption circuit 250: First ROM 260: Second ROM 270:Storage circuit 272: Temporary register 274:Memory Bcode: Start process code Pkey: public key DGT1: first eigenvalue DGT2: second eigenvalue S510: Public key verification procedure S520: Signature verification procedure 600: One-time programmable read-only memory 610: Memory block 620: Control bit S310,S320,S330,S410,S420,S430,S440,S450,S460,S470,S480,S490,S510,S512,S514,S516,S518,S519,S520,S522,S524,S526,S528,S710,S720 , S730, S740: steps

Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of the startup process of a conventional electronic device running a Linux system; Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of the electronic device of the present invention; Figure 3 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method for controlling an electronic device according to the present invention; Figure 4 shows a flow chart of one embodiment of the electronic device startup process of the present invention; Figure 5 is a flow chart of one embodiment of the signature verification process of the present invention; Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the one-time programmable read-only memory of the present invention; and FIG. 7 is a flow chart of one embodiment of the programming control of the present invention.

S510,S512,S514,S516,S518,S519,S520,S522,S524,S526,S528: Steps

Claims (19)

An electronic device that accesses an external storage device that stores a public key and a plurality of startup process codes of the electronic device. The electronic device includes: A read-only memory used to store one of the first characteristic values of the public key; a computing circuit for executing the startup process codes; and An encryption and decryption circuit used to verify the public key based on the first characteristic value; Wherein, the public key is used to verify the startup process codes, and the number of bits of the first characteristic value is smaller than the number of bits of the public key; Wherein, the read-only memory, the calculation circuit and the encryption and decryption circuit are provided on a first chip, and the external storage device is composed of a second chip. For example, the electronic device of claim 1, wherein the external storage device further stores a signature, the signature is related to the startup process codes, and when the public key passes the verification, the encryption and decryption circuit uses the public key to decrypt the Signature. For example, the electronic device of claim 1 further includes: a storage circuit; and A read-only memory control circuit is used to read the first characteristic value from the read-only memory before the computing circuit executes the startup process codes, and store the first characteristic value to the storage circuit. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the encryption and decryption circuit compares the first characteristic value with a second characteristic value obtained by performing an operation on the public key to verify the public key. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the first characteristic value is a first hash value of the public key, and the second characteristic value is a second hash value of the public key. The electronic device of claim 4, wherein the first characteristic value is a part of a first hash value of the public key, and the second characteristic value is a part of a second hash value of the public key. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the read-only memory system is a one-time programmable read-only memory. For example, the electronic device of claim 7 further includes: A read-only memory control circuit used to control the one-time programmable read-only memory; Wherein, the read-only memory control circuit checks the value of a control bit of the one-time programmable read-only memory before the one-time programmable read-only memory is burned, and the control bit indicates storing the first One of the characteristic values is whether the memory block can be programmed. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein when the public key fails to pass verification, the computing circuit stops executing the startup process codes. A control method for an electronic device. The electronic device includes a read-only memory that stores a first characteristic value of a public key. The method includes: Read the public key and a plurality of activation process codes of the electronic device from an external storage device; Execute the startup process code; and Verify the public key according to the first characteristic value; Wherein, the public key is used to verify the startup process codes, and the number of bits of the first characteristic value is smaller than the number of bits of the public key; Wherein, the read-only memory is arranged on a first chip, and the external storage device is composed of a second chip. For example, the method of claim 10, wherein the external storage device stores a signature, the signature is related to the startup process codes, the method further includes: When the public key passes verification, the signature is decrypted using the public key. The method of claim 10, wherein the electronic device further includes a storage circuit, and the method further includes: Before executing the startup process codes, the first characteristic value is read from the read-only memory, and the first characteristic value is stored in the storage circuit. For example, the method of request item 10 also includes: The first characteristic value is compared with a second characteristic value obtained by performing an operation on the public key to verify the public key. The method of claim 13, wherein the first characteristic value is a first hash value of the public key, and the second characteristic value is a second hash value of the public key. The method of claim 13, wherein the first characteristic value is a part of a first hash value of the public key, and the second characteristic value is a part of a second hash value of the public key. The method of claim 10, wherein the read-only memory system is a one-time programmable read-only memory. For example, the method of request item 16 also includes: Before the one-time programmable read-only memory is programmed, the value of a control bit of the one-time programmable read-only memory is checked, and the control bit indicates whether the memory block storing the first characteristic value Can be burned. For example, the method of request item 10 also includes: When the public key fails to pass verification, execution of the startup process codes is stopped. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of verifying the public key based on the first characteristic value is executed before one of the startup process codes, a Miniboot startup program or a U-boot startup program.

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