Patent ID: 11921904
Assignee: MARVELL ASIA PTE LTD
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 18:
19. A method to support firmware security via a hardware-based lock mechanism, comprising:
accepting a request to access the resource by a first agent at an arbitrator;
creating a first lock identification and set a locked state for the resource if the resource is in an unlocked state, indicating that the resource is locked;
storing the first lock identification and/or the locked state in a hardware-based lock unit associated with the resource, wherein the hardware-based lock unit is configured to maintain the locked state and the lock identification for the resource;
providing the first lock identification to the first agent to have an exclusive lock to access and control the resource;
accepting a second lock identification from a second agent requesting access to the same resource at the arbitrator;
granting access to the resource by the second agent if the resource is in the locked state by the first agent and the second lock identification provided by the second agent matches a third lock identification that is stored on the hardware-based lock unit;
denying access by the second agent to the resource responsive to a mismatch between the second lock identification provided by the second agent and the third lock identification stored on the hardware-based lock unit.