Wave Systems Corp. (fka WAVXQ)

[Zeev Hed]

You remember the good old days of the "Math co-processor" a separate chip in the old days of the 8088 and much later processors? Well, it was incorporated in the pentium, and maybe even in the 300 series earlier. There is no reason a priori, as far as I can see, not to have a co-processor residing with the processor on the same chip obviating the need for an interface. I am told that some microcontrollers (a much simpler chip than the general microprocessors) have some security functions embedded within them. A very critical question is avoidance of tampering (whether on uses a co-processor or an integrated microprocessor), and I have not seen this issue addressed (it is obviated when you have a third party encryption key, but that is of course cumbersome, thus the advantage of having security functions at the PC itself).