Methods and systems for provable, auditable and secure software updates for resource-constrained IoT devices are provided via a security framework and a protocol for owner-controlled software updates for IoT devices through blockchain.

A baseband processor of a communication device, the baseband processor including an encryptor block that encrypts a transmit data stream into an encrypted data stream, at least one transmit chain block that transforms the encrypted data stream into an analog transmit signal, and a randomness inspector unit that is in communication with the encryptor block, the randomness inspector unit accessing the transmit data stream and the encrypted data stream from the encryptor block as first and second input streams, respectively, to the randomness inspector unit, and determining a randomness gain by comparing a first randomness measurement associated with the first input stream to a second randomness measurement associated with the second input stream.

Methods and apparatus for using characterized devices such as memories. In one embodiment, characterized memories are associated with a range of performances over a range of operational parameters. The characterized memories can be used in conjunction with a solution density function to optimize memory searching. In one exemplary embodiment, a cryptocurrency miner can utilize characterized memories to generate memory hard proof-of-work (POW). The results may be further validated against general compute memories; such that only valid solutions are broadcasted to the mining community. In one embodiment, the validation mechanism is implemented for a plurality of searching apparatus in parallel to provide a more distributed and efficient approach. Various other applications for characterized memories are also described in greater detail herein (e.g., blockchain, social media, machine learning, probabilistic applications and other error-tolerant applications).

Methods and apparatus for using characterized devices such as memories. In one embodiment, characterized memories are associated with a range of performances over a range of operational parameters. The characterized memories can be used in conjunction with a solution density function to optimize memory searching. In one exemplary embodiment, a cryptocurrency miner can utilize characterized memories to generate memory hard proof-of-work (POW). The results may be further validated against general compute memories; such that only valid solutions are broadcasted to the mining community. In one embodiment, the validation mechanism is implemented for a plurality of searching apparatus in parallel to provide a more distributed and efficient approach. Various other applications for characterized memories are also described in greater detail herein (e.g., blockchain, social media, machine learning, probabilistic applications and other error-tolerant applications).

The invention enables the certification of a measurement result of a measuring device. A measuring device arranged in connection with a data security module according to the invention takes under processing a measurement result produced using a measuring instrument of the measuring device (501). The measuring device associates a digital calibration certificate associated with a public key corresponding to a secret key stored in a key storage with the measurement result taken under processing (502). The measuring device digitally signs the associated measurement result using a signing function of the data security module and the secret key stored in the key storage (503).

Disclosed are various embodiments for executing entity-specific cryptographic code in a cryptographic coprocessor. In one embodiment, an exemplary method comprises receiving encrypted code that includes implementing a cryptographic algorithm from a service via a network, wherein the encrypted code further includes a symmetric encryption key; decrypting, by a cryptographic coprocessor, the encrypted code; executing, by the cryptographic coprocessor, the decrypted code to generate a cryptogram including information encrypted using the cryptographic algorithm and the symmetric encryption key; and sending the cryptogram to the service via the network.

A computer-implemented method includes retrieving, by a bridge device communicatively linked to a blockchain network node of a blockchain network, a first set of blockchain blocks from the blockchain network node using a first set of threads of the bridge device; storing, by the bridge device, the first set of blockchain blocks in the bridge device; and verifying, by the bridge device, a second set of blockchain blocks that are stored in the bridge device using a second set of threads of the bridge device; and wherein retrieving the first set of blockchain blocks and verifying the second set of blockchain blocks are performed asynchronously using the first set of threads and the second set of threads.

A method of cryptographically secured decentralized testing includes receiving, by a computing device and from a secure test apparatus, an output of a cryptographic function of a secret test result identifier, authenticating the output, and recording, in a data repository, an indication of a test result as a function of the output.

A method for controlling a PCBA data distributed ledger located on blockchain network and a system for implementing the method are disclosed. The method may comprise scanning, by an optical label reader, an optical label located on a PCB and decoding, by an entity device, the optical label. The method may further include receiving, by a ledger controller, a request to access a distributed ledger from the entity device; verifying, by the blockchain nodes, a public key received from the entity device; determining, by the ledger controller, whether a private key received from the entity device matches a stored login credential; and determining whether to allow the entity device to access at least a first block on the distributed ledger.

A media-capture device initiates acquisition of sensor data samples representing analog phenomena; encodes the samples; generates a to-be-signed data structure comprising the encoded samples and/or cryptographic hashes of the samples; generates a cryptographic hash of the to-be-signed data structure; transmits a time-stamping request to a time-stamping server, the time-stamping request comprises the cryptographic hash of the to-be-signed data structure, wherein the time-stamping server generates a signed time-stamp; generates a digital signature using the to-be-signed data structure, the signed time-stamp, a private cryptographic key, and a signed certificate for the corresponding public cryptographic key; and generates a second data structure comprising the samples, the to-be-signed data structure, and the digital signature.