Wave Systems Corp. (fka WAVXQ)

[Dabears4]

Patent Post – Sorry, didn't intend to offend

My point was that that while NGSCB does not install a centralized coprocessor into the traditional PC environment, it does install all of the components that make up a coprocessor in the various hardware within a PC to create a “coprocessing environment”. The other point is that certain “methods” of utilizing NGSCB don’t look all that different from Wave’s prior art intellectual property. In the examples I posted I found and replaced one or two words to come up with some very attractive patents (the enable one blows off your socks if you are familiar with the underpinnings of NGSCB).

I posted the way that I did because I am limited on time and have in the past seen that when I do write lengthy details, the posts tend to either not be read, not commented on, or not questioned by readers who genuinely want to understand my point of view better. I used to post a lot, but now have a job that keeps me busy 12-16 hours a day plus most weekends. At least, if I post short messages, I don't invest time in this board that I really need to spend with my family.

Wave's N-able patents and NGSCB both embrace a fundamental fact. The PC is an open tool by it's nature. People use PC's not just to run pre-furnished applications, but to do open programming (and it's not just geeky programmers doing programming, you do it when you do something as simple as creating a macro). In order to make the traditional PC secure, fundamental changes must be made to it's structure. One path that could be used is to make the PC a closed system - with programs/macros/applets and the like not running unless approved by some central authority. This however would fundamentally change the open nature of the PC. Instead, what NGSCB and Wave's patents suggest is the addition of a secure coprocessing environment to the traditional computing environment. This coprocessing envirenment would be seperate from the traditional space and could be managed differently from the open side of the PC. In addition to maintaining the openness of the platform, this approach also keeps backward compatibility with the multitude of programming already in existence.

In the NGSCB world (which was designed by Wave's good friend Geoffrey Strongin) the coprocessing environment is divided among several components on the PC (a secure portion of the microprocessor, partitioned memory, a secure encryption component, etc.). The secure coprocessing side, deemed "the right side" by Geoffrey and Microsoft, is the secure side. In the secure side "trusted agents" or applets which can be authenticated by TSP's (trusted service providers) are run in a secure environment. This environment is protected by the Nexus which is an API interface that restricts access by the host computer to data passing through the NGSCB coprocessing environment, or "right side", where secure transactions are processed by the "trusted agents". The "left side" is the unaltered side, the traditional host computer system, which performs non-secure processing.

Sounds eerily familiar.

Anyone wanting more information on NGSCB’s structure can look here:

I’d start w/ Geoffrey’s paper
http://download.microsoft.com/download/c/f/1/cf1806ad-5a4f-4f7d-a5b2-07fdb59a7adb/WH03_TPT16.exe

http://download.microsoft.com/download/c/f/1/cf1806ad-5a4f-4f7d-a5b2-07fdb59a7adb/WH03_TPT03.exe

slide 12 and 22 are of particular interest.in the link above.

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/ngscb/documents/NGSCBhardware.doc