Method and apparatus to improve the protection of information presented by a computer
View Patent ↗According to one embodiment a method is disclosed. The method includes receiving encrypted video data at a graphics controller from a microprocessor, decrypting the data at the graphics controller and rendering the data.
1. A method comprising:
receiving encrypted graphics data at a graphics controller from a microprocessor;
decrypting the data at the graphics controller;
storing the data in a memory;
preventing the memory from being read via an input/output interface when the graphics controller is operating in a security mode; and
rendering the data at the graphics controller.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing the data in a frame buffer after the data has been rendered.
3. The method of claim 2 further comprising decrypting the data at the graphics controller prior to rendering the data.
4. A computer system comprising:
a microprocessor; and
a chipset coupled to the microprocessor, wherein the chipset includes a graphics controller comprising a memory to store rendered data, a control circuit to prevent the memory from being read via an input/output interface when the graphics controller is operating in a security mode, and a decryption module to decrypt encrypted graphics data received at the graphics controller.
5. The computer system of claim 4 , wherein the graphics controller further comprises a rendering engine to render data received from the microprocessor.
6. The computer system of claim 4 further comprising a display device coupled to the graphics controller.
7. A computer system comprising:
a microprocessor;
an input/output (I/O) bus coupled to the microprocessor; and
a graphics controller coupled to I/O bus, wherein the graphics controller includes a control circuit to prevent a memory from being read via the I/O bus when the graphics controller is operating in a security mode, and a decryption module to decrypt encrypted graphics data received at the graphics controller.
8. The computer system of claim 7 wherein the graphics controller further comprises a rendering engine to render data received from the microprocessor.
9. The computer system of claim 7 wherein the graphics controller further comprises:
a memory to store the rendered data; and
a control circuit to control access to the rendered data stored in the memory.
10. The computer system of claim 7 wherein the rendering engine is an extensible markup language (XML) renderer.
11. The computer system of claim 7 further comprising a display device coupled to the graphics controller.
12. The computer system of claim 7 further comprising:
a chipset coupled to the I/O bus; and
a processor bus coupled to the chipset and the microprocessor.
13. A graphics controller comprising:
a decryption module to decrypt encrypted graphics data received at the graphics controller;
a rendering engine to render the decrypted graphics data; and
a control circuit to prevent a memory from being read via an input/output interface when the graphics controller is operating in a security mode.
14. The graphics controller of claim 13 wherein the rendering engine is an extensible markup language (XML) renderer.