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upon format. This approach allows the customer to change the details of how the serialization data is generat- ed without making any changes to the programming application. Because ESPs allow a standard
programming application to obtain unique serialization data, they were readily adopted in the early days of device programming and soon became an essential part of the seri- alization process.
Output Files ESPs generate the serialization
data in the form of an output file known as the Serialization Data File (or DAT file). In addition to the seri- al data itself, the file contains meta-
December, 2012 Complex Serialization: An Approach for Today
information indicating which addres - ses on the DUT should be serialized and in what format the serialization data should be stored. After invoking the ESP, the programming applica- tion parses the DAT file to load the serialization data to the appropriate device addresses prior to program- ming the device. This technique has worked very
well over the years, but given the modern requirements of security, concurrency, and an even greater need for flexibility, ESPs are becom- ing archaic. Serialization data, for example, often contains sensitive IP which can create a major security concern when using ESPs. The ESP stores this serialization data as plain text in the DAT file and any casual
observer can potentially copy this file to gain access to this information. The amount of context information that can be specified on the command line when invoking the ESP is also limited. The need may arise for addi- tional context information that is unable to fit in a command line argu- ment. Moreover, since the ESP is invoked and destroyed for each serial number, the ESP cannot store any state information in memory. It must therefore rely on context information passed from the programming appli- cation or maintain its own state information stored on disk or other non-volatile backing stored for each invocation. Some serialization appli- cations must also generate serial numbers in a multiple-step transac- tional process that requires reading data from the device, passing it to the ESP, taking data returned from the ESP and programming it into the device. This adds even more complex- ity and security vulnerabilities. Invoking the ESP in this man-
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ner prevents concurrency as well. If two different client applications are invoking the same ESP simultane- ously, the serialization data from the first invocation might get overwrit- ten by the second before the pro- gramming application has had a chance to read it. Unfortunately the traditional approach to complex seri- alization fails to conform to these real-world use cases.
Cutting-Edge Approach To address the shortcomings of
the ESP and leverage the capabilities of modern multi-tasking operating systems, a new approach to complex serialization relies on an External Serialization Server (ESS). The ESS, like the ESP, is a standalone cus- tomer-written executable, however it is invoked a single time at the start of a programming job and remains in memory until the end of the pro- gramming session. To obtain serialization data for
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the DUT, the programming applica- tion makes a call into the already running ESS by using encrypted inter-process communication tech- niques (IPC). The programming application can specify any arbitrary data to the ESS, including data read from the device. The ESS then returns serialization data to the pro- gramming application using the same IPC techniques obviating the need for writing sensitive IP data to the hard drive that must then be parsed by the programming applica- tion. Because the communication channel between the ESS and the programming application is encrypt- ed, sensitive IP is secure from copy- ing or tampering. Thread-safety is also achieved using IPC by allowing multiple clients to access the same ESS without overwriting each other’s data. Since each client has a dedicat- ed communication channel with the ESS, there are no shared DAT file resources that have to be managed. An advanced form of ESS
makes multiple transactions easy, since the programming application can make several calls into the ESS at several points in the programming flow to give the ESS an opportunity to provide any arbitrary information. This includes information that is not traditionally referred to as serializa- tion data. More importantly, a pro- gramming application supporting a
known ESS communication protocol allows a third-party ESS to have inti- mate knowledge of and involvement with the programming process itself. In addition to providing seriali-
zation data, it can monitor the pro - gress of certain device-specific opera- tions or provide several pieces of infor- mation at different points in the pro- gram flow on an as-needed basis. The ESS essentially becomes part of the programming algorithm and can pro- vide as much or as little input as the programming process warrants.
Problems with Traditional Methods
There are several important
problems with traditional (ESP) methodology communicates using a fixed format, wherein the command line argument inputs and plain text file output is provided. Security is a problem, since serialization data is stored insecurely as plain text on the hard drive. Concurrency calls into the same ESP can overwrite seriali- zation data. For context, the ESP must rely on external context infor- mation since it is invoked for each device operation. Finally, multiple transactions are not supported; com- munication is one-way. Using an up-to-date (ESS) sys-
tem solves most of these problems. Communication is accomplished using a flexible format, providing encrypted inter-process communica- tion. Security is provided because serialization data is not stored on any non-volatile media and is encrypted along the communication channel. For concurrency, each client has a dedicated communication channel with the ESS so no data loss can occur. The system can maintain internal state context, since ESS
The ESS model builds on the success of the traditional ESP approach and modernizes it to address ever-growing custom application needs while providing needed security.
remains in memory until the end of the programming session. And final- ly, multiple transactions are easily supported, allowing rich protocols for making the ESS part of the program- ming process.
Serialization is a difficult chal-
lenge in the device programming industry. The novel approach of using an external application to manage the unique customer-specific aspects of serialization has gone a long way to make serialization man- ageable and reliable, however there are many issues related to security, concurrency, and flexibility that remain unaddressed with the tradi- tional ESP model. The ESS model builds on the success of the tradition- al ESP approach and modernizes it to address ever-growing custom application needs while providing a secure framework to protect cus- tomer intellectual property. Contact: BPM Microsystems,
5373 West Sam Houston Pkwy N, Suite 250, Houston, TX 77041-5160 % 800-225-2102 or 713-688-4600 fax: 713-688- 0920 E-mail:
info@bpmmicro.com Web:
www.bpmmicro.com r
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