IP Library Granted Patent US 9,397,834
Granted Patent B2
US 9,397,834 · App. 13/876,441 · Granted Jul 19, 2016

Scrambling an address and encrypting write data for storing in a storage device

Inventor: Craig A. Walrath (Spring, TX)
Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
H04L9/16G06F12/1408G06F21/72G06F21/78G06F21/80H04L9/0861
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,397,834
App. No.
13/876,441
Granted
Jul 19, 2016
Kind
B2
Abstract

An address to access a location in a storage device ( 106, 204 ) is received, and the address is scrambled. Write data is encrypted using an encryption key. The encrypted write data is stored in the storage device at a location of the storage device specified by the scrambled address.

Claims (32)

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a control system, a storage access command including a command field that selectively enables address scrambling for a storage location;

receiving, by the control system, address bits that define an address used to access the storage location in a storage device;

scrambling, by the control system, the address bits that define the address used to access the storage location for which address scrambling is selectively enabled by the command field;

encrypting, using an encryption key, write data, wherein the encryption key comprises a combination of a first key and address information, where the address information is based on one or a combination of: at least a portion of the received address bits, at least a portion of the scrambled address bits, or at least a portion of virtual address information, wherein scrambling the address bits is based on using a key selected from among the first key and a second key different from the first key; and

providing, by the control system, the encrypted write data to store in the storage device at a location of the storage device specified by the scrambled address bits.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location in the storage device specified by the address bits prior to the scrambling is different from the location in the storage device specified by the scrambled address bits.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the combination of the first key and the address information comprises an exclusive-or of the first key and the address information.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the storage device has plural regions, and wherein different encryption keys are used to encrypt data stored in the respective plural regions.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the storage device has plural regions, the method further comprising applying different levels of encryption to the respective plural regions.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the storage device has plural regions, the method further comprising applying different address scramblings for the respective plural regions.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

reading encrypted read data from the storage device; and

decrypting the encrypted read data using the encryption key.

8. A system comprising:

at least one storage device; and

a control subsystem to:

receive a storage access command including a command field that selectively enables address scrambling for a storage location;

scramble addresses for accessing different storage regions of the at least one storage device to form respective scrambled addresses, the different storage regions including the storage location for which address scrambling has been selectively enabled by the command field;

encrypt, using different encryptions, corresponding plural write data segments, wherein the different encryptions are based on use of corresponding different encryption keys, wherein at least one of the encryption keys is a mixture of a data key and a first scrambled address of the scrambled addresses, wherein the first scrambled address is formed from one of: switching around address bits of a respective address; hashing the address bits; and mapping, using a table, the address bits to the first scrambled address; and

provide the encrypted write data segments to store in the respective storage regions specified by the respective scrambled addresses.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the different encryptions are based on use of corresponding different encryption techniques.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the different storage regions comprise: (1) different storage regions of one storage device, or (2) different storage regions of different storage devices.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the different storage regions are to store respective different types of data.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the control subsystem is configured to communicate at least one of address information, control information, and data information wirelessly to the storage device.

13. A storage device controller for a storage device, comprising:

an address scrambler to, in response to a storage access command including a command field specifying that address scrambling is selectively enabled for a storage location in the storage device, scramble address bits of an address used to access the storage location in the storage device, the scrambling of the address bits based on a first key;

a key mixer to form an encryption key by combining the first key with address information, where the address information is based on at least a portion of the scrambled address bits; and

an encryption module to encrypt write data using the encryption key, and to provide the encrypted write data to store in the storage device at a location of the storage device specified by the scrambled address bits.

14. The storage device controller of claim 13 , wherein the storage location in the storage device specified by the address bits prior to scrambling is different from the location in the storage device specified by the scrambled address bits.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein scrambling the address bits based on using the key selected from among the first key and the second key comprises mixing the address bits with the key selected from among the first key and the second key.

16. The storage device controller of claim 13 , wherein the scrambling of the address bits based on the first key comprises mixing the address bits with the first key.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 28, 2013
From: WALRATH, CRAIG A.
To: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.
Reel/Frame 030103/0253 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20130205139A1 · Aug 8, 2013