IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,567,962
Granted Patent B2
US 12,567,962 · App. 18/183,310 · Granted Mar 3, 2026

Method for post-quantum secure in-the-field trust provisioning

Inventors: Christine van Vredendaal (Veldhoven, NL); Björn Fay (Brande-Hörnerkirchen, DE); Mario Lamberger (Graz, AT)
Assignee: NXP B.V.
H04L9/0894H04L9/0891H04L9/3263
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,567,962
App. No.
18/183,310
Granted
Mar 3, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method for provisioning a plurality of IC devices, the method including: providing, by a first entity, the plurality of IC devices; storing, by the first entity, in one of the plurality of IC devices used as a provisioning device, one or more keys, and a public key, wherein the one or more keys include a reprovisioning key for reprovisioning the remaining IC devices; installing, by the first entity, provisioning software in the provisioning device; signing, by the first entity, provisioning software using a private key, the private key corresponding to the public key; provisioning the remaining IC devices by the provisioning device including providing cryptographic assets to the remaining IC devices, wherein the cryptographic assets include cryptographic code and keys; and reserving space in the remaining IC devices for reprovisioning the remaining IC devices with updated cryptographic assets.

Claims (42)

1 . A method for provisioning a plurality of IC devices, the method comprising:

providing, by a first entity, the plurality of IC devices;

storing, by the first entity, in one of the plurality of IC devices used as a provisioning device, one or more keys, and a public key, wherein the one or more keys include a reprovisioning key for reprovisioning the remaining IC devices;

installing, by the first entity, provisioning software in the provisioning device;

signing, by the first entity, provisioning software using a private key, the private key corresponding to the public key;

provisioning the remaining IC devices by the provisioning device including providing cryptographic assets to the remaining IC devices, wherein the cryptographic assets include cryptographic code and keys; and

reserving space in the remaining IC devices for reprovisioning the remaining IC devices with updated cryptographic assets.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the provisioning device, the cryptographic assets wherein the cryptographic assets are encrypted assets from a second entity,

wherein a provisioning software verifies the encrypted assets of the second entity.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the key for reprovisioning the remaining IC devices is a symmetric key.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the key for reprovisioning the remaining IC devices is a private key wherein an associated public key is kept secret.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the key for reprovisioning the remaining IC devices is a private key using on of extended Merkle Signature Scheme (XMSS) and Leighton-Micali Signatures (LMS) cryptography.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

provisioning an additional device, wherein the additional device includes cryptographic assets to further reprovision the remaining IC devices.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the additional device is protected by one of version counter that is compared to a threshold counter value, locking the additional device after it is used for reprovisioning, authenticating the reprovisioning with a reprovisioning key installed by the first entity, and physical protection from a malicious actor.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the provisioning device is substantially functionally the same as the remaining IC devices.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the updated cryptographic assets are post quantum cryptography assets.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the provisioning device operates as an intermediary certificate authority.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving updated cryptographic assets by the provisioning device;

encrypting the updated cryptographic assets using a reprovisioning key;

determining that the remaining IC devices have the space to store the encrypted updated cryptographic assets;

storing, by the provisioning device, the encrypted updated cryptographic assets in the remaining IC devices;

decrypting, by the remaining IC devices, the encrypted updated cryptographic assets using a cryptographic key associated with the reprovisioning key; and

deploying the updated cryptographic assets in the remaining IC devices.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the updated cryptographic assets are post quantum cryptography assets.

13 . A method for reprovisioning a plurality of integrated circuit (IC) devices wherein the plurality of IC devices includes a provisioning device configured to provision the remaining IC devices of the plurality of devices, the method comprising:

receiving updated cryptographic assets by the provisioning device;

encrypting the updated cryptographic assets using a reprovisioning key;

determining that the remaining IC devices have space to store the encrypted updated cryptographic assets;

storing, by the provisioning device, the encrypted updated cryptographic assets in the remaining IC devices;

decrypting, by the remaining IC devices, the encrypted updated cryptographic assets using a cryptographic key associated with the reprovisioning key; and

deploying the updated cryptographic assets in the remaining IC devices.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising clearing a user-space when the space to store the encrypted updated assets includes the user-space.

15 . The method of claim 13 , further including authenticating the received updated cryptographic assets using a provisioned authentication key.

16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the updated cryptographic assets include a key generation code.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the remaining IC devices generate a secret key based upon the key generation code.

18 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the updated cryptographic assets are post quantum cryptography assets.

19 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

disabling previously provisioned cryptographic assets in the remaining IC devices.

20 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the provisioning device is substantially functionally the same as the remaining IC devices.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 14, 2023
From: VAN VREDENDAAL, CHRISTINE; FAY, BJORN; LAMBERGER, MARIO
To: NXP B.V.
Reel/Frame 062972/0923 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20240313963A1 · Sep 19, 2024
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