Abstract: A system in which firmware residing in ROM may be upgraded without re-spinning silicon. A one-bit flag may be assigned for each patchable function representing a firmware upgrade. The first statement of each function may check its associated flag and determine if patch-code should be executed in place of the current function residing in ROM. If the flag is not set, the code may continue executing normally. If the flag is set, a function identifier may be placed into a global memory location, and an assembly language “jump” instruction may be executed, redirecting program control to a specified location in a volatile Scratch Read Only Memory (SROM) where the corresponding patched code may be stored. If more than one function is patched, the global identifier may be used to determine which patched function to execute. Using an assembly language “jump” instruction to redirect control results in the patched function's returning normally to its calling function once it has completed executing.

Abstract: A computer system may receive one or more credentials of a user (e.g., username, password, etc.) from an integrated circuit (IC) device carried by the user. The computer system may include an IC device interface to receive the user credential(s) from the IC device. The IC device interface may be coupled to a CPU of the computer system through a low pin count (LPC) bus. The user credential(s) may be used to grant access to software and/or to grant access to information. Access may be granted to information stored on the computer system. In some embodiments, the computer system may be coupled to a network and transmit the user credential(s) from the IC device and a request for access of information to a service provider coupled to the network. The service provider may grant or deny the request for access of information based on user credential(s).

Abstract: A system in which firmware residing in ROM may be upgraded without re-spinning silicon. A one-bit flag may be assigned for each patchable function representing a firmware upgrade. The first statement of each function may check its associated flag and determine if patch-code should be executed in place of the current function residing in ROM. If the flag is not set, the code may continue executing normally. If the flag is set, a function identifier may be placed into a global memory location, and an assembly language “jump” instruction may be executed, redirecting program control to a specified location in a volatile Scratch Read Only Memory (SROM) where the corresponding patched code may be stored. If more than one function is patched, the global identifier may be used to determine which patched function to execute. Using an assembly language “jump” instruction to redirect control results in the patched function's returning normally to its calling function once it has completed executing.

Abstract: A computer system may receive one or more credentials of a user (e.g., username, password, etc.) from an integrated circuit (IC) device carried by the user. The computer system may include an IC device interface to receive the user credential(s) from the IC device. The IC device interface may be coupled to a CPU of the computer system through a low pin count (LPC) bus. The user credential(s) may be used to grant access to software and/or to grant access to information. Access may be granted to information stored on the computer system. In some embodiments, the computer system may be coupled to a network and transmit the user credential(s) from the IC device and a request for access of information to a service provider coupled to the network. The service provider may grant or deny the request for access of information based on user credential(s).

Abstract: An interface that allows the host CPU and the keyboard controller in a PC to share a common BIOS ROM includes a logic circuit that receives a set of input signals and produces a set of signals that emulates a jump instruction op-code that causes the host CPU to vector to a specified address location in the system memory map normally reserved for the system ROM BIOS code, whenever both the host CPU and keyboard controller are contending for access to the BIOS ROM.