Patent ID: 6571335
Filing Date: 2003-05-27
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
An electronic system comprising:a system substrate; a memory element coupled to the system substrate, the memory element to contain firmware and a digital signature of the firmware signed by a signatory, the digital signature including a first value and a second value; and a processor coupled to the system substrate and the memory element, the processor to contain a public key of the signatory and a digital signature function used during a predetermined condition to authenticate the firmware before execution by the processor, the processor authenticates the firmware by (i) performing a hash operation on the firmware to produce a message digest, (ii) using at least the message digest, the public key of the signatory and a plurality of parameters associated with the digital signature function to produce a computed first value, (iii) comparing the computed first value to the first value of the digital signature, and (iv) allowing the firmware to be executed by the processor where the computed first value matches the first value of the digital signature.