18090601. SECURE DIRECT MEMORY ACCESS simplified abstract (ATI Technologies ULC)
Contents
SECURE DIRECT MEMORY ACCESS
Organization Name
Inventor(s)
Jeremy W. Powell of Austin TX (US)
Donald Matthews, Jr. of Ft. Collins CO (US)
David Kaplan of Austin TX (US)
SECURE DIRECT MEMORY ACCESS - A simplified explanation of the abstract
This abstract first appeared for US patent application 18090601 titled 'SECURE DIRECT MEMORY ACCESS
Simplified Explanation:
This patent application describes a processor that manages DMA accesses securely at an IOMMU. The IOMMU ensures that DMA requests from I/O devices are bound to specific virtual machines (VMs) through a security registration process, preventing unauthorized access to VM memory.
- The processor supports secure management of DMA accesses at an IOMMU.
- The IOMMU binds DMA requests to specific VMs based on a security registration process.
- DMA requests are targeted to assigned memory regions of the VM, enhancing security.
- The technology prevents malicious entities from accessing confidential VM information via DMA requests.
Potential Applications: This technology can be applied in data centers, cloud computing environments, and virtualized systems where secure DMA access management is crucial.
Problems Solved: This technology addresses the security risks associated with DMA accesses, ensuring that only authorized VMs can access specific memory regions.
Benefits: Enhanced security for VMs, protection against unauthorized access, improved data confidentiality, and secure data processing.
Commercial Applications: Title: Secure DMA Access Management Technology for Virtualized Environments This technology can be commercialized by companies offering cloud services, data center solutions, and virtualization platforms to enhance data security and protect sensitive information.
Prior Art: Researchers can explore prior patents related to IOMMUs, DMA access management, and virtualization security to understand the existing technology landscape.
Frequently Updated Research: Researchers are continually exploring advancements in secure DMA access management, virtualization security, and IOMMU technologies to enhance data protection in virtualized environments.
Questions about Secure DMA Access Management Technology for Virtualized Environments: 1. What are the key challenges in implementing secure DMA access management in virtualized environments? 2. How does this technology impact the overall performance of virtualized systems?
Original Abstract Submitted
A processor supports managing DMA accesses, in secure fashion, at an IOMMU. The IOMMU is configured to ensure that, for a given DMA request issued by an I/O device and associated with a particular executing VM, the device is bound to the VM according to a specified security registration process, and the request is targeted to a region of memory that has been assigned to the VM. The IOMMU thus prevents a malicious entity from accessing confidential information of a VM via DMA requests.
