What is the effect of different Flash, MCU and DSP encryption?

I am often asked: Can this chip be encrypted and protected? Is the encrypted chip not usable again? The answer to the chip encryption is in this article!

With the development of information technology, the use of information carrier-chips has become more and more, and the requirements for chip security have become higher and higher, and each chip manufacturer has higher requirements for chip confidentiality. The encryption of the chip ensures the security of the information in the chip. Customers often call and ask if this chip is encrypted and can't be used. This article looks at the effects of different Flash, MCU and DSP encryption by introducing the encryption of the chip.

First, the encryption of the Flash type chip

Flash class chips (including SPI FLASH, parallel FLASH, NAND FLASH, etc.) are generally prohibited from "writing" and "erase" operations after encryption, writing encrypted information through the status register, and programming if the chip is already encrypted. In operation, although the programming can be successful, the client's code is actually not written to the chip.

Take the MXIC manufacturer's chip in SPI Flash as the column, the following picture shows its encryption setting interface in SmartPRO series programmer.

According to the setting visual interface of the above figure, after the corresponding configuration information is written, the area corresponding to the Flash enters the protection state, and cannot be programmed or erased. Only by clearing the information in the encryption register, the chip can be erased from the new one. Programming operation.

Second, MCU type chip encryption.

There are often people who can consult on the issue of whether they can be used twice after MCU encryption protection. For the encrypted chip can not be used twice, it depends on which type of chip, similar to TI's MSP430 series chip can not be used twice after encryption, this encryption is OTP (One Time Programmable) type, only Can do a burn. The principle is to blow the fuse through high voltage, so that the external device can no longer access the chip. This is physical and cannot be recovered. If you want to encrypt, please use it with caution! The figure below shows the operation buttons of the SmartPRO series programmer.

But for most MCU chips, the encrypted chip can still be used twice. MCUs similar to ST vendors have three levels of optional encryption, namely Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3.

1. Level1 does not read the protection level, that is, the data in the chip can be read, but the chip cannot be programmed or erased.

2, Level2 protection, in this state, you can not read the contents of the program code inside the chip, nor can you do the memory space erasure or chip debugging again.

3. Level 3 protection is irreversible protection, and no other operations can be performed after protection. After Level1 and Level2 are encrypted, the chip can be decrypted for the second time.

These three levels of encryption similar to ST MCU are more user-friendly, and customers can manage different encryption levels according to their needs. The following figure shows the SmartPRO series programmer encryption setting operation interface.

Third, DSP type chip encryption

The chip encryption form of DSP is encrypted by writing the customer's password in a specific area. This encryption is reversible and you can re-do anything on the chip by entering the correct password. However, if the password is all "0", this method is irreversible and belongs to the one-time setting of the chip, so be cautious. Its SmartPRO series programmer encryption settings window is as follows.

to sum up

Through the above simple introduction, have you learned about the encryption settings of various chips? Try these encryption methods quickly.

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