Abstract:
In the field of computer enabled cryptography, such as a keyed block cipher having a plurality of rounds, the cipher is hardened against an attack by a protection process which obscures the round keys using the properties of group field automorphisms and applying masks to the states of the cipher, for encryption or decryption. This is especially advantageous in a “White Box” environment where an attacker has full access to the cipher algorithm, including the algorithm&#39;s internal state during its execution. This method and the associated computing apparatus are useful for protection against known attacks on “White Box” ciphers, by eliminating S-box operations, together with improved masking techniques and increasing the cipher&#39;s complexity against reverse engineering and key storage attacks.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to data security, cryptography and cipher key protection. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In the field of data security, there is a need for fast and secure encryption. This is why the AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) cipher has been designed and standardized to replace the DES (Data Encryption Standard) cipher. Cryptographic algorithms are widely used for encryption and decryption of messages, authentication, digital signatures and identification. AES is a well known symmetric block cipher. Block ciphers operate on blocks of plaintext and ciphertext, usually of 64 or 128 bits length but sometimes longer. Stream ciphers are the other main type of cipher and operate on streams of plain text and cipher text 1 bit or byte (sometimes one word) at a time. There are modes of operation (notably the ECB, electronic code block) where a given block is encrypted to always the same ciphertext block. This is an issue which is solved by a more evolved mode of operations, e.g. CBC (cipher block chaining) where a chaining value is used to solve the 1-to-1 map. 
     AES is approved as an encryption standard by the U.S. Government. Unlike its predecessor DES (Data Encryption Standard), it is a substitution permutation network (SPN). AES is fast to execute in both computer software and hardware implementation, relatively easy to implement, and requires little memory. AES has a fixed block size of 128 bits and a key size of 128, 192 or 256 bits. Due to the fixed block size of 128 bits, AES operates on a 4×4 array of bytes. It uses key expansion and like most block ciphers a set of encryption and decryption rounds (iterations). Block ciphers of this type include in each round use of substitution boxes (S-boxes). This operation provides non-linearity in the cipher and significantly enhances security. 
     Note that these block ciphers are symmetric ciphers, meaning the same key is used for encryption and decryption. As is typical in most modern ciphers, security rests with the (secret) key rather than the algorithm. The S-boxes accept an n-bit input and provide an m-bit output. The values of m and n vary with the cipher and the S-box itself. The input bits specify an entry in the S-box in a particular manner well known in the field. 
     Many encryption algorithms are primarily concerned with producing encrypted data that is resistant to decrypting by an attacker who can interact with the encryption algorithm only as a “Black Box” (input-output) model, and cannot observe internal workings of the algorithm or memory contents, etc. due to lack of system access. The Black Box model is appropriate for applications where trusted parties control the computing systems for both encoding and decoding ciphered materials. 
     However, many applications of encryption do not allow for the assumption that an attacker cannot access internal workings of the algorithm. For example, encrypted digital media often needs to be decrypted on computing systems that are completely controlled by an adversary (attacker). There are many degrees to which the Black Box model can be relaxed. An extreme relaxation is called the “White Box” model. In a White Box model, it is presumed that an attacker has total access to the system performing an encryption (or decryption), including being able to observe directly a state of memory, program execution, modifying an execution, etc. In such a model, an encryption key can be observed in or extracted from memory, and so ways to conceal operations indicative of a secret key are important. 
     Classically, software implementations of cryptographic building blocks are insecure in the White Box threat model where the attacker controls the execution process. The attacker can easily lift the secret key from memory by just observing the operations acting on the secret key. For example, the attacker can learn the secret key of an AES software implementation by observing the execution of the key schedule algorithm. 
     Hence there are two basic principles in the implementation of secure computer applications (software). The Black Box model implicitly supposes that the user does not have access to the computer code nor any cryptographic keys themselves. The computer code security is based on the tampering resistance over which the application is running, as this is typically the case with SmartCards. For the White Box model, it is assumed the (hostile) user has partially or fully access to the implemented code algorithms; including the cryptographic keys themselves. It is assumed the user can also become an attacker and can try to modify or duplicate the code since he has full access to it in a binary (object code) form. The White Box implementations are widely used (in particular) in content protection applications to protect e.g. audio and video content. 
     Straightforward software implementations of cryptographic building blocks are insecure in the White Box threat model where the attacker controls the computer execution process. The attacker can easily extract the (secret) key from the memory by just observing the operations acting on the secret key. For instance, the attacker can learn the secret key of an AES cipher software implementation by passively monitoring the execution of the key schedule algorithm. Also, the attacker could be able to retrieve partial cryptographic result and use it in another context (using in a standalone code, or injecting it in another program, as an example). 
     Content protection applications such as for audio and video data are one instance where it is desired to keep the attacker from finding the secret key even though the attacker has complete control of the execution process. The publication “White-Box Cryptography in an AES implementation” Lecture Notes in Computer Science Vol. 2595, Revised Papers from the 9th Annual International Workshop on Selected Areas in Cryptography pp. 250-270 (2002) by Chow et al. discloses implementations of AES that obscure the operations performed during AES by using table lookups (also referred to as TLUs) to obscure the secret key within the table lookups, and obscure intermediate state information that would otherwise be available in arithmetic implementations of AES. In the computer field, a table lookup table is an operation consisting of looking in a table (also called an array) at a given index position in the table. 
     Chow et al. (for his White Box implementation where the key is known at the computer code compilation time) uses 160 separate tables to implement the 11 AddRoundKey operations and 10 SubByte Operations (10 rounds, with 16 tables per round, where each table is for 1 byte of the 16 byte long—128 bit—AES block). These 160 tables embed a particular AES key, such that output from lookups involving these tables embeds data that would normally result from the AddRoundKey and SubByte operations of the AES algorithm, except that this data includes input/output permutations that make it more difficult to determine what parts of these tables represent round key information derived from the AES key. Chow et al. provide a construction of the AES algorithm for such White Box model. The security of this construction resides in the use of table lookups and permutations applied on the input and output of table lookups. The input and output mask applied to this data is never removed along the process. In this solution, there is a need for knowing the key value at the compilation time, or at least to be able to derive the tables from the original key in a secure environment or in a secure way. 
     The conventional implementation of a block cipher in the White Box model is carried out by creating a set of table lookups. Given a dedicated cipher key, the goal is to store in a table the results for all the possible input messages. This principle is applied for each basic operation of the block cipher. In the case of the AES cipher, these are the shiftRow, the add RoundKey, the subByte and the mixColumns operations. 
     However, Chow et al. do not solve all the security needs for block cipher encryption in a White Box environment. Indeed, the case where the cipher key is derived through a given process and so is unknown at the code compilation time is not addressed by Chow et al. Further, the publication “Cryptanalysis of a White Box AES Implementation” by Olivier Billet et al., in “Selected Areas in Cryptography 2004” (SAC 2004), pages 227-240 is an efficient attack on a White Box cipher of the type described by Chow et al., indicating weaknesses in Chow et al.&#39;s approach. Software implementations of cryptographic building blocks are thus insecure in the White Box threat model where the attacker controls the execution process. The attacker can easily lift the secret key from memory by just observing the operations acting on the secret key. For example, the attacker can learn the secret key of an AES software implementation by observing the execution of the key schedule algorithm. 
     SUMMARY 
     One typical case is when computer software to carry out a cryptographic process is distributed over several users and each one of them has his own cryptographic key; this key set is, from a practical point of view, impossible to disseminate to each user. Another case is when generating session keys (a different key for each session) through a given process. Of course, in this case the key is unknown at the code (software) compilation time. A last case is when it is necessary to store a large number of keys. It is not reasonable to consider storing about 700 kB of data (the value provided by Chow et al.) for each key (since these keys are very lengthy). 
     Hiding the keys of an AES execution is an important part of the AES White Box approach. The present method is based on algebraic properties of the AES S-box operation that enable one to compute the ARK (add round key) cipher operation using operations both before and after the S-box operation and avoiding direct use of the S-Box. In particular, the key is not stored partitioned as is conventional by an XOR (exclusive OR) operation but in a novel form. This approach is generally applicable to block ciphers having an inversion function. More specifically, here a sub-key is conventionally added to a message state (the add round key operation) and then the resulting state is subject to an inversion function in a predetermined mathematical field in place of the conventional S-Box operation followed by an affine operation. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         FIG. 1  shows, in the prior art, AES encryption. 
         FIG. 2  shows a computing system in accordance with the invention. 
         FIG. 3  shows a computing system as known in the art and used in accordance with the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     AES Description 
     See the NIST AES standard for a more detailed description of the AES cipher: Specification for the ADVANCED ENCRYPTION STANDARD (AES), NIST, http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips197/fips-197.pdf. The following is a summary of the well known AES cipher. The AES cipher uses a 16 byte cipher key, and has 10 rounds (final found plus 9 others). The AES encryption algorithm has the following operations as depicted graphically in prior art  FIG. 1  and showing round zero of the 9 rounds: 
     11 AddRoundKey Operations 
     10 SubByte Operations 
     10 ShiftRow Operations 
     9 MixColumn Operations 
     AES is computed using a 16-byte buffer (computer memory) referred to as the AES “state” in this disclosure and shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     To summarize,
         (i) AddRoundKeys (ARK) logically XOR (the Boolean exclusive OR operation) some sub-key bytes with the state bytes.   (ii) ShiftRows (SR) are a move from one byte location to another.   (iii) MixColums (MC) are a linear table-look up (TLU), applied to 4 bytes.   (iv) SubBytes (SB) are a non-linear TLU, applied to 1 byte.       

     Preliminarily to the encryption itself, in the initial round in  FIG. 1 , the original 16-byte cipher key is expanded to 11 sub-keys (also called round keys) designated K 0 , . . . , K 10 , so there is a sub-key for each round, during what is called the key-schedule. Each sub-key, like the original cipher key, is 16-bytes long. 
     The following explains AES decryption round by round. For the corresponding encryption (see  FIG. 1 ), one generally performs the inverse of each operation, in the inverse order. (The same is true for the cryptographic processes in accordance with the invention as set forth below.) The inverse operation of ARK is ARK itself, the inverse operation of SB is the inverse subbyte (ISB) which is basically another TLU, the inverse operation of MC is the inverse mix column (IMC) which is basically another TLU, and the inverse operation of SR is the inverse shift row (ISR) which is another move from one byte location to another. 
     Expressed schematically, AES decryption round-by-round is as follows: 
     ARK (K 10 ) 
     ISR 
     ISB 
     ARK (K 9 ) 
     IMC 
     ISR 
     ISB 
     ARK (K 8 ) 
     IMC 
     ISR 
     ISB 
     ARK (K 7 ) 
     IMC 
     ISR 
     ISB 
     ARK (K 6 ) 
     IMC 
     ISR 
     ISB 
     ARK (K 5 ) 
     IMC 
     ISR 
     ISB 
     ARK (K 4 ) 
     IMC 
     ISR 
     ISB 
     ARK (K 3 ) 
     IMC 
     ISR 
     ISB 
     ARK (K 2 ) 
     IMC 
     ISR 
     ISB 
     ARK (K 1 ) 
     IMC 
     ISR 
     ISB 
     ARK (K 0 ) 
     Without lack of generality, the exemplary description here of the present method is for decryption, but it is evident that the method in accordance with the invention can be used also for encryption (see  FIG. 1  showing conventional AES encryption) or other cryptographic processes. The method in accordance with the invention also can easily be applied to other variants of AES with more rounds (the 192 and 256-bit key length versions even with a 128 bit block size) as well as to other block ciphers and more generally to non-block ciphers and other key based cryptographic processes. 
     AES is considered very efficient in terms of execution on many different computer architectures since it can be executed only with table lookups (TLU) and the exclusive-or (XOR) operation. It is known that the AES state can be handled as a 4×4 square of bytes. As a square, it can be seen as 4 columns of 4 bytes each. 
     As described above, AES decryption is a succession of basic operations: ISB for the inverse of SubByte, IMC (for the inverse of MixColumn) and ISR (for the inverse of ShiftRow). The ISR operation modifies the state by shifting each row of the square. This operation does not modify the bytes themselves but only their respective positions. The ISB operation is a permutation from [0, 255] to [0, 255], which can be implemented by a table look-up. 
     AES Properties 
     The following describes known properties of components of the AES cipher that are used in the present method to improve security of the AES (or any similar) cipher. The SubByte (SB) operation was intentionally chosen by the designers of the AES cipher. As well known, in the SB operation, each data byte in the array (state) is updated using an 8-bit substitution box called the S-box. The S-box includes a multiplication inverse in the well known (in mathematics) Galois Field of 256, referred to as GF (2 8 ), to provide nonlinearity to the cipher. The S-box combines the inverse function extended to 0 with an invertible affine function. The SubByte operation thus is a function GF(2 8 ). A Galois field in mathematics is a field (e.g., a set) that contains only a finite number of elements, called the “order”. So for the operation in GF(2 8 ):
 
 SB ( x )= A ( x   254 )
 
where A is the given affine function (see the AES cipher specification) and x is the cipher state value and a byte is considered as an element of GF(2 8 ). An affine function performs an affine transformation on its argument (e.g., a vector) to linearly transform (rotate or scale) and translate X (shift) the argument to another vector. The notation A(X) means the affine function applied to value X.
 
     One can then write in terms of the cipher operations SB, ISB:
 
 SB=A∘INV,  
 
and
 
 ISB=INV∘A   −1  
 
     where INV is the multiplicative inversion in GF(2 8 ), A −1  is the inverse of the affine function A, and here symbol “o” designates a composition of functions. (Multiplicative inversion here means conventionally that the inversion of x is 1/x, unless x=0 when 1/x=x 254 .) 
     The S-box is defined as (for any x in GF(2 8 )):
 
 S ( x )= A ( INV ( x ))  (1)
 
where INV is the inversion in GF(256) (except for 0 which is inverted into 0) and A is an affine bijective function. “Affine” means a function such that for all x, y, z in GF(256):
 
 A ( x )⊕ A ( y )⊕ A ( z )= A ( x⊕y⊕z )  (2)
 
where ⊕ (i.e., an XOR) designates the addition operation in GF(2 8 ).
 
     The following explanation is in the context of AES decryption but can be easily adapted to AES encryption and to similar operations for other block ciphers. 
     AES Decryption 
     One can rewrite the AES decryption operations described above as: 
     ARK (K 10 ) 
     ISR 
     ISB 
     IMC 
     ARK (K′ 9 ) 
     ISR 
     ISB 
     IMC 
     ARK (K′ 1 ) 
     ISR 
     ISB 
     ARK (K 0 ) 
     where K′i=IMC(Ki) 
     From equation (1), it is known that the decryption operation using the S-Box is defined as:
 
 ISB ( x )= INV (( A   −1 )( x ))  (3)
 
where A −1  is the inverse of A, and is also an affine bijective function.
 
     Using this, one can rewrite the above sequence of cipher operations as: 
     ARK (K 10 ) 
     ISR 
     A −1    
     INV 
     IMC 
     ARK (K′ 9 ) 
     ISR 
     A −1    
     INV 
     IMC 
     ARK (K′ 1 ) 
     ISR 
     A −1    
     INV 
     ARK (K 0 ) 
     From equation (2), one knows that:
 
 A   −1 ( x⊕K )= A   −1 ( x⊕K⊕ 0)= A   −1 ( x )⊕ A   −1 ( K )⊕ A   −1 (0)
 
Let K″i=A −1  (ISR(K′i))⊕A −1  (0)
 
     One then can rewrite the above sequence of cipher decryption operations as: 
     ISR 
     A −1    
     ARK (K″ 10 ) 
     INV 
     IMC 
     ISR 
     A −1    
     ARK (K″ 9 ) 
     INV 
     IMC 
     . . . 
     ISR 
     A −1    
     ARK (K″ 1 ) 
     INV 
     ARK (K 0 ) 
     So here for a round (1) the IS (inverse subbyte) operation (which is the S-box) is removed; (2) the order of the remaining operations is changed as regards the add round key operation; (3) the affine bijective function is inserted immediately before the add round key operation; and (4) the inversion operation is inserted immediately after the add round key operation. The inversion operation combined with the affine function is the equivalent of the (removed) inverse subbyte (ISB) operation, in GF(256). Similarly for encryption, the operations ARK, SB are replaced by the affine operation, ARK, and INV, since SB=A∘INV(x). 
     Mathematical Properties 
     For all values x≠0 and for all y, the following stands:
 
 x⊕y=x ·(1⊕( y·INV ( x )))  (4)
 
where “·” designates the multiplication operation in GF(256). From equation (4):
 
 INV ( x⊕y )= INV ( x )· INV (1⊕( y·INV ( x )))  (5)
 
     Equation (5) shows that it is possible to compute the inverse function “INV” of the XOR (Boolean exclusive OR) of two values. In a conventional context, where both values x and y are masked with the same (additively applied) mask value M:
 
 X=x⊕M  
 
 Y=y⊕M  
         (Masking is a well known way to obscure or hide a value by applying to it another “mask” value using a mathematical or logical operation.)
 
One can still use equation (5) to compute INV(x⊕y), as long as X is not equal to zero:
 
 INV ( x⊕y )= INV ( X⊕Y )= INV ( X )· INV (1⊕( Y·INV ( X )))
 
Mathematical Properties Applied to AES
       

     As shown above for AES decryption, one has: 
     ARK (K″i) 
     INV 
     which are consecutive operations present in all the sub-key rounds, except for that of sub-key K 0 . So one wants to compute:
 
 INV ( K″i⊕S )
 
where S is a variable that represents the cipher message state for any round. Let M be a mask value chosen such that K″i⊕M is different from 0. Hence one can use equation (5) to compute INV(K″i⊕S):
 
 INV ( K″i⊕S )= INV ( K″i⊕M )· INV (1+(( S⊕M )· INV ( K″i⊕M )))
 
     Here the key is stored as W=INV(K″i+M) and the computation is:
 
 INV ( K″i⊕S )= W·INV (1⊕(( S⊕M )· W ))
 
     The sub-key is thus stored not only in a masked format but in the image of the non-linear function (operation) “INV”. This provides additional security compared to other hiding techniques using a mask or a linear permutation of the key. 
     The present method is thus a way to perform the calculation of INV(K″i⊕S) in a novel and secure way, in order to protect the secret key K″i. Notably, no S-box is used here. 
     The K 0  Case 
     As shown for AES decryption, sub-key K 0  is not used in its round in the same way as the other sub-keys since the K 0  round has no S-box (ISB or SB) operation. Indeed, sub-key K 0  is involved in the last round computation of the decryption as follows: 
     ARK (K″ 1 ) 
     INV 
     ARK (K 0 ) 
     It is useful to hide sub-key K 0 , since that last round is the easiest round to reverse engineer. The previous method can be adapted in this case by including the K 0  to the K″ 1  computations. The computation is:
 
 K 0 ⊕INV ( K″ 1 ⊕S ),
 
     where S denotes the previous byte (then there are 16 states). 
     In a practical implementation, the keys and state are not in clear, but are masked. So M 0  is the mask value for key K 0  and M 1  is the mask value for key K″ 1 . Then, denote K′ 0  as K 0 ⊕M 0 , S′ as S⊕ M 1  and K′″ 1  as K″ 1 ⊕M 1 . This means one computes in practice:
 
 K′ 0 ⊕M 0 @INV ( K′″⊕S ′)  (6)
 
     As for the previous case, one chooses mask value M 1  such that K′″ 1  is non-zero. 
     Key Representation—Last Round 
     Let
         U=M 0 ·K′″ 1     V=K′ 0 ·K′″ 1     W=Inv(K′″ 1 )       

     These three values U, V, W are each independent from (meaning there is no obvious relation to) the cipher state value S′. 
     Computational Results for Equation (6) 
     Let
         T 1 =S′. W   T 2 =(M 0 ·S′)⊕V⊕ 1         

     If T 1  is different from 1, equation (6) can be rewritten as:
 
 W ·(( T 1 ·V )⊕ T 2 ⊕U )· INV ( T 1⊕1)  (7)
 
whereas, if T 1  is equal to 1, equation (6) can be rewritten as:
 
 W ·( U⊕V )  (8)
 
     A way to implement these different cases is to reuse equation (7) using different values of T 1  and T 2  for the special case T 1 =1. Indeed, if
 
 T 1=0
 
 T 2 =V  
 
one knows that:
 
 W ·(( T 1 ·V )⊕ T 2⊕ U )· INV ( T 1⊕1)= W ·( U⊕V )
 
Execution Steps—Last Round
 
     One can implement these last round operations together. Executing the following steps (expressed in pseudo-code which is a non-executable representation of actual computer code) is sufficient to execute the last round: 
     
       
         
               
               
             
           
               
                   
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
                 Compute T1 = S′ . W 
               
               
                   
                 if (T1 == 1) 
               
               
                   
                   Set T1 = 0 
               
               
                   
                   Set T2 = V 
               
               
                   
                 else 
               
               
                   
                   Set T1 = T1 
               
               
                   
                   Set T2 = (M 0  . S′) ⊕ V ⊕ 1 
               
               
                   
                 endif 
               
               
                   
                 Return W . (T1 . V ⊕ T2 ⊕ U) . Inv(T1 ⊕ 1) 
               
               
                   
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     This execution effectively computes the two ARK operations and the inversion steps of the last AES round. 
     This previous method can be used for the last round ARK operations in the AES cipher: 
     ARK (K″ 1 ) 
     INV 
     ARK (K 0 ) 
     However importantly, it can also be used for any or all of the other AES rounds. For instance for the second (K 9 ) round, the operations: 
     ARK (K″ 9 )
         INV   IMC   A −1      ARK (K″ 8 )
 
can be implemented as:
       

     ARK (K″ 9 ) 
     INV 
     ARK (K 8 ) 
     IMC 
     A −1    
     to use this method on round keys K″ 9 , K 8 : 
     ARK (K″ 9 ) 
     INV 
     ARK (K 8 ) 
     The above shows implementation of two Add Round Key operations using novel key representations. Indeed the round keys are stored as U, V, W where:
 
 U=M 0 ·K′″   1  
 
 V=K′ 0 ·K′″   1  
 
 W=INV ( K′″   1 )
 
     Moreover, the execution of the cipher is completely different from what is done conventionally, resulting in a hardened cipher, in terms of both reverse engineering and key storage. 
       FIG. 2  shows in a block diagram relevant portions of a computing device (system)  160  in accordance with the invention which carries out the cryptographic processes as described above. This is, e.g., a server platform, computer, mobile telephone, Smart Phone, personal digital assistant or similar device, or part of such a device and includes conventional hardware components executing in one embodiment software (computer code) which carries out the above examples. This code may be, e.g., in the C or C++ computer language or its functionality may be expressed in the form of firmware or hardware logic; writing such code or designing such logic would be routine in light of the above examples and logical expressions. Of course, the above examples are not limiting. Only relevant portions of this apparatus are shown for simplicity. Essentially a similar apparatus encrypts the message, and may indeed be part of the same platform. 
     The computer code is conventionally stored in code memory (computer readable storage medium)  140  (as object code or source code) associated with conventional processor  138  for execution by processor  138 . The incoming ciphertext (or plaintext) message (in digital form) is received at port  132  and stored in computer readable storage (memory  136  where it is coupled to processor  138 . Processor  138  conventionally then partitions the message into suitable sized blocks at partitioning module  142 . Another software (code) module in processor  138  is the decryption (or encryption) module  146  which carries out the state and key masking and decryption or encryption functions as set forth above, with its associated computer readable storage (memory)  152 . 
     Also coupled to processor  138  is a computer readable storage (memory)  158  for the resulting decrypted plaintext (or encrypted ciphertext) message. Storage locations  136 ,  140 ,  152 ,  158  may be in one or several conventional physical memory devices (such as semiconductor RAM or its variants or a hard disk drive). Electric signals conventionally are carried between the various elements of  FIG. 6 . Not shown in  FIG. 2  is any subsequent conventional use of the resulting plaintext or ciphertext stored in storage  145 . 
       FIG. 3  illustrates detail of a typical and conventional embodiment of computing system  160  that may be employed to implement processing functionality in embodiments of the invention as indicated in  FIG. 2  and includes corresponding elements. Computing systems of this type may be used in a computer server or user (client) computer or other computing device, for example. Those skilled in the relevant art will also recognize how to implement embodiments of the invention using other computer systems or architectures. Computing system  160  may represent, for example, a desktop, laptop or notebook computer, hand-held computing device (personal digital assistant (PDA), cell phone, palmtop, etc.), mainframe, server, client, or any other type of special or general purpose computing device as may be desirable or appropriate for a given application or environment. Computing system  160  can include one or more processors, such as a processor  164  (equivalent to processor  138  in  FIG. 2 ). Processor  164  can be implemented using a general or special purpose processing engine such as, for example, a microprocessor, microcontroller or other control logic. In this example, processor  164  is connected to a bus  162  or other communications medium. 
     Computing system  160  can also include a main memory  168  (equivalent of memories  136 ,  140 ,  152 , and  158 ), such as random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic memory, for storing information and instructions to be executed by processor  164 . Main memory  168  also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during execution of instructions to be executed by processor  164 . Computing system  160  may likewise include a read only memory (ROM) or other static storage device coupled to bus  162  for storing static information and instructions for processor  164 . 
     Computing system  160  may also include information storage system  170 , which may include, for example, a media drive  162  and a removable storage interface  180 . The media drive  172  may include a drive or other mechanism to support fixed or removable storage media, such as flash memory, a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, a compact disk (CD) or digital versatile disk (DVD) drive (R or RW), or other removable or fixed media drive. Storage media  178  may include, for example, a hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic tape, optical disk, CD or DVD, or other fixed or removable medium that is read by and written to by media drive  72 . As these examples illustrate, the storage media  178  may include a computer-readable storage medium having stored therein particular computer software or data. 
     In alternative embodiments, information storage system  170  may include other similar components for allowing computer programs or other instructions or data to be loaded into computing system  160 . Such components may include, for example, a removable storage unit  182  and an interface  180 , such as a program cartridge and cartridge interface, a removable memory (for example, a flash memory or other removable memory module) and memory slot, and other removable storage units  182  and interfaces  180  that allow software and data to be transferred from the removable storage unit  178  to computing system  160 . 
     Computing system  160  can also include a communications interface  184  (equivalent to part  132  in  FIG. 2 ). Communications interface  184  can be used to allow software and data to be transferred between computing system  160  and external devices. Examples of communications interface  184  can include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernet or other network interface card (NIC)), a communications port (such as for example, a USB port), a PCMCIA slot and card, etc. Software and data transferred via communications interface  184  are in the form of signals which can be electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signals capable of being received by communications interface  184 . These signals are provided to communications interface  184  via a channel  188 . This channel  188  may carry signals and may be implemented using a wireless medium, wire or cable, fiber optics, or other communications medium. Some examples of a channel include a phone line, a cellular phone link, an RF link, a network interface, a local or wide area network, and other communications channels. 
     In this disclosure, the terms “computer program product,” “computer-readable medium” and the like may be used generally to refer to media such as, for example, memory  168 , storage device  178 , or storage unit  182 . These and other forms of computer-readable media may store one or more instructions for use by processor  164 , to cause the processor to perform specified operations. Such instructions, generally referred to as “computer program code” (which may be grouped in the form of computer programs or other groupings), when executed, enable the computing system  160  to perform functions of embodiments of the invention. Note that the code may directly cause the processor to perform specified operations, be compiled to do so, and/or be combined with other software, hardware, and/or firmware elements (e.g., libraries for performing standard functions) to do so. 
     In an embodiment where the elements are implemented using software, the software may be stored in a computer-readable medium and loaded into computing system  160  using, for example, removable storage drive  174 , drive  172  or communications interface  184 . The control logic (in this example, software instructions or computer program code), when executed by the processor  164 , causes the processor  164  to perform the functions of embodiments of the invention as described herein. 
     This disclosure is illustrative and not limiting. Further modifications will be apparent to these skilled in the art in light of this disclosure and are intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.