Nonvolatile memory unlock for an electronic postage meter
First Claim
1. A postage meter comprising:
- (a) printing means for printing postage;
(b) computing means coupled to said printing means for accounting for postage printed by said printing means;
(c) data entry means coupled to said computing means for entering messages into said computing means;
(d) nonvolatile memory means coupled to said computing means for storing a plurality of predetermined levels of secure data, said nonvolatile means having a set of bit locks each uniquely associated with each one of said predetermined levels of secure data; and
(e) program storage means coupled to said computing means adapted to store a set of programs which control the operation of said computing means and which includes a first program operable to identify which of said plurality of predetermined levels of secure data, if any, is referenced by an entered message, and a second program operable to determine if the bit lock associated with an identified level is set.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic postage meter is disclosed which includes one or more nonvolatile memories (NVM) for storing a hierarchy of secure data including the meter'"'"'s unique serial number, accounting information, and various parameters which define its operating characteristics. The portion or portions of NVM containing the serial number and the aforementioned information and parameters may be totally or partially "locked" by firmware that causes one or more "lock bits" to be set. The setting of the lock bits is designed to prevent unauthorized access to a program which can alter the contents of predetermined portions of NVM. The disclosed postage meter is further operable to enable authorized personnel to "unlock" said program in order to initialize, modify and/or reconfigure the meter both during the manufacturing process and after the meter has been placed in the field. Once authorized changes have been specified the meter is operative to verify that proper values have actually been placed in NVM and then relock the memory. The disclosed methods and apparatus eliminate the need to physically remove NVM in order to accomplish initialization, modification and/or reconfiguration by providing controlled access to all or part of the memory storing the hierarchy of secure data.
46 Citations
29 Claims
-
1. A postage meter comprising:
-
(a) printing means for printing postage; (b) computing means coupled to said printing means for accounting for postage printed by said printing means; (c) data entry means coupled to said computing means for entering messages into said computing means; (d) nonvolatile memory means coupled to said computing means for storing a plurality of predetermined levels of secure data, said nonvolatile means having a set of bit locks each uniquely associated with each one of said predetermined levels of secure data; and (e) program storage means coupled to said computing means adapted to store a set of programs which control the operation of said computing means and which includes a first program operable to identify which of said plurality of predetermined levels of secure data, if any, is referenced by an entered message, and a second program operable to determine if the bit lock associated with an identified level is set. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A postage meter comprising:
-
(a) printing means for printing postage; (b) computing means coupled to said printing means for accounting for postage printed by said printing means; (c) data entry means coupled to said computing means for entering messages into said computing means; (d) nonvolatile memory means coupled to said computing means for storing a plurality of predetermined levels of secure data and for storing bit lock for each of said levels of data; and (e) program storage means coupled to said computing means adapted to store a set of programs which control the operation of said computing means and which includes a first program operable to identify which of said plurality of predetermined levels of secure data, if any, is referenced by an entered message and a second program operable to determine if the bit lock associated with an identified level is set and if set process an authorization input code to determine if the entered message is authorized, signal an error condition whenever an unauthorized entry is present and unlock the identified level by clearing the associated bit lock whenever an entry is determined to be authorized. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
-
19. A postage meter comprising:
-
(a) printing means for printing postage; (b) computing means coupled to said printing means for accounting for postage printed by said printing means; (c) data entry means coupled to said computing means for entering messages, each comprising a data portion and one of a plurality of predefined operational indicator codes, into said computing means; (d) nonvolatile memory means coupled to said computing means for storing a plurality of predetermined levels of secure data and for storing a bit lock for each of said levels of data; and
program storage means coupled to said computing means adapted to store a set of programs which control the operation of said computing means and which includes a program operable to identify which of said plurality of predetermined levels of secure data, if any, is referenced by an entered message, to determine if the bit lock associated with an identified level is set and if set to process an authorization input code to determine if the entered message is authorized, to signal an error condition whenever an aunthorized entry is present, to unlock the identified level by clearing the associated bit lock and determine which of said predefined operational indicator codes is present whenever an entry is determined to be authorized, to store the data portion of said entered message in a predetermined address in nonvolatile memory whenever said operational indicator code is predefined as a store operation and to perform a comparison between the data portion of said entered message and data previously entered and stored at a predetermined address in nonvolatile memory whenever said operational indicator code is predefined as a compare operation, to signal an error condition if said comparison is false and set the bit lock for the identified level if the comparison is true to thereby secure the data in nonvolatile memory.
-
-
20. A method for initializing, modifying and reconfiguring a postage meter, wherein said meter comprises printing means for printing postage, computing means coupled to said printing means for accounting for postage printed by said printing means, data entry means coupled to said computing means for entering into said computing means messages each of which include data, nonvolatile memory means coupled to said computing means for storing a plurality of predetermined levels of secure data and for storing a bit lock for each of said levels of data, comprising the steps of:
-
(a) entering a message into said postage meter via said data entry means; (b) identifying which of said plurality of predetermined levels of secure data, if any, is referenced by said entered message; and (c) determining if the bit lock associated with an identified level is set. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
-
-
26. A method for initializing, modifying and reconfiguring a postage meter, wherein said meter comprises printing means for printing postage, computing means coupled to said printing means for accounting for postage printed by said printing means, data entry means coupled to said computing means for entering into said computing means messages each of which comprise a data portion and one of a plurality of predefined operational indicator codes, nonvolatile memory means coupled to said computing means for storing a plurality of predetermined levels of secure data and for storing a bit lock for each of said levels of data, comprising the steps of:
-
(a) entering a message into said postage meter via said data entry means; (b) identifying which of said plurality of predetermined levels of secure data, if any, is referenced by said entered message; (c) determining if the bit lock associated with said identified level is set and if set processing an authorization input code to determine if the entered message is authorized; (d) signaling an error condition whenever an unauthorized entry is present; (e) unlocking the identified level by clearing the associated bit lock and determining which of said plurality of operational indicator codes is present whenever an entry is determined to be authorized; (f) storing the data portion of said entered message in a predetermined address in nonvolatile memory whenever said operational indicator code is predefined to as a store operation; (g) comparing the data portion of said entered message with data previously entered and stored at a predetermined address in nonvolatile memory whenever said operational indicator code is predefined as a compare operation; (h) signaling an error condition if the comparison is false; and (i) setting the bit lock for the identified level if the comparison is true to thereby secure the data in nonvolatile memory.
-
-
27. A method for initializing, modifying and reconfiguring a postage meter, wherein said meter comprises printing means for printing postage, computing means coupled to said printing means for accounting for postage printed by said printing means, data entry means coupled to said computing means for entering into said computing means messages each of which comprises a header, a data portion and one of a plurality of predefined operational indicator codes, nonvolatile memory means coupled to said computing means for storing a plurality of predetermined levels of secure data and for storing a bit lock for each of said levels of data, comprising the steps of:
-
(a) entering a message into said postage meter via said data entry means; and (b) identifying the type of entered message with reference to said header. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
-
Specification