Patent ID: 11915008
Assignee: STMICROELECTRONICS APPLICATION GMBH
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A processing system, comprising:
a microprocessor configured to execute software instructions;
a hardware circuit configured to change operation as a function of a decoded life-cycle data;
a reset circuit configured to, in response to determining that an external reset signal received via a reset terminal has a first logic level, cause the reset circuit to:
generate a first reset of the processing system during a reset phase,
activate a hardware configuration circuit during a configuration phase, wherein the hardware configuration circuit reads an encoded life-cycle data stored in a non-volatile memory, decodes the encoded life-cycle data, and provides the decoded life-cycle data to the hardware circuit, and
starting the microprocessor in response to determining that the external reset signal has a second logic level during a wait phase;

a communication interface activated during the wait phase and configured to receive a request; and
a hardware verification circuit configured to generate a life-cycle advancement request signal in response to determining that the request includes a reference password and the reset circuit is in the wait phase, the life-cycle advancement request signal indicating a request to advance the life-cycle stage to a given predetermined life-cycle stage as indicated by the encoded life cycle data.