System and method for remote device registration

Abstract

A system and method for remote device registration, to monitor and meter the injection of keying or other confidential information onto a device, is provided. A producer who utilizes one or more separate manufacturers, operates a remote module that communicates over forward and backward channels with a local module at the manufacturer. Encrypted data transmissions are sent by producer to the manufacturer and are decrypted to obtain sensitive data used in the devices. As data transmissions are decrypted, credits from a credit pool are depleted and can be replenished by the producer through credit instructions. As distribution images are decrypted, usage records are created and eventually concatenated, and sent as usage reports back to the producer, to enable the producer to monitor and meter production at the manufacturer. In an alternative arrangement overproduction may be inhibited by introducing a separation of duties within a manufacturing process. Typically a producer will contract out the various stages of manufacturing to multiple contractors. In general, separation of duties involves purposefully separating manufacturing stages, for silicon chips or other devices, so that the end product must have been ''touched'', by each subcontractor, in order for the end product to be fully functional.

Description

[0001] Case Description [0002] This application is a divisional application of the Chinese patent application entitled "System and Method for Remote Device Registration" with the filing date of June 12, 2006 and the application number of 200680025923.6. technical field [0003] The present invention relates generally to the manufacture of devices containing sensitive data therein, and in particular to remotely controlling and monitoring the injection of such sensitive data into such devices. Background technique [0004] Devices that participate in a cryptographically secure communication system will generally have some type of unique and immutable information that is injected into the device when it is manufactured. This information may be a cryptographic key, a shared secret, or some other data that may be cryptographically bound to an inherently unique property of the device. Such information may generally be referred to as a "key", and the injection of information may...

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