Memory Fabric Transaction Security via Truncated MAC
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing memory protocols lack effective security measures for ensuring data integrity and confidentiality in transactions between electronic circuits, particularly in high-performance and scalable memory fabrics, which makes them vulnerable to unauthorized modifications and malicious activities.
Innovation Solution
A memory fabric protocol that utilizes cryptographic methods, including transaction integrity keys, truncated message authentication codes, and key management systems to secure transactions, ensuring data integrity and confidentiality with low overhead, and supports multiple physical layers for scalability and extensibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cryptographic methods are added to memory protocols to secure transactions, then data integrity and confidentiality are improved, but communication and computational overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
Keys are pre-distributed to electronic circuits before transactions occur. The key management system establishes security credentials in advance, allowing circuits to authenticate and encrypt data without real-time key exchange overhead during transactions
Solution Approach 2:
The security functionality is extracted into a separate key management system that operates independently from the main memory fabric protocol. This allows cryptographic operations to be managed separately, reducing the complexity burden on the core memory protocol while still providing security
2Reliability
If security measures are implemented in memory protocols, then protection against unauthorized modifications is improved, but data transfer rates may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies cryptographic protection selectively based on transaction types and security requirements. Not all memory transactions require full cryptographic verification, allowing high-performance transactions to proceed with minimal overhead while maintaining security where needed
Solution Approach 2:
Authentication and encryption are prepared in advance through pre-distributed keys and pre-computed authentication tags. This allows data to be secured before transmission without adding significant latency during the actual data transfer phase
Data Source
AI summary
In an example, transactions are secured between electronic circuits in a memory fabric. An electronic circuit may receive a transaction integrity key. The electronic circuit may compute a truncated message authentication code (MAC) using the received transaction integrity key and attach the truncated MAC to a security message header (SMH) of the transaction.