[Cryptography] Speculation re Intel HW cockup; reqs. OS rewrites & slow execution
Dave Horsfall
dave at horsfall.org
Fri Jan 5 18:27:26 EST 2018
On Fri, 5 Jan 2018, Jerry Leichter wrote:
> [...] and a completely separate ARM chip running various support
> functions, including all kinds of security related functions. No user
> code gets in there, ever. Obviously, this will have its own problems
> and vulnerabilities - but it may be a path to the future. (Then again,
> it may point to the deep past: As I discuss this, the image that comes
> back to me is of the CDC "super-computers" of the 1960's and 1970's:
> User code in the "CPU"; OS/control code in completely separate "PPU"'s.
> Forward into the past?)
Minor clarification: the OS (KRONOS, NOS, etc) did indeed run in the main
CPU; the PPUs did the I/O, with one PPU reserved for MTR (the overall
monitor) and another for DSD (Dynamic System Display) which drove the
funky console[*]; they were PPU0 and PPU1, but I don't remember which was
which (I sorta recall that MTR loaded DSD).
[*] Ah yes, the console... Two big round screens (so a common game run in
one of the PPUs was "EYE"), and a keyboard with the "0" key on the left
:-( The usual display configuration was one screen showing the RJE queues
and the other showing a sort of dynamic "ps".
--
Dave Horsfall DTM (VK2KFU) "Those who don't understand security will suffer."
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