LONDON — NXP Semiconductors BV (Eindhoven, the Netherlands) has taken a license to use technology from Cryptography Research, Inc. that enhance the security of smart card chips against Differential Power Analysis (DPA) and related attacks.

Over the past few months, Infineon Technologies and Renesas have also reached similar deals with CRI (San Francisco, Calif.).

The patent license deal also covers software executing on NXP chips, allowing NXP's customers to develop their own security countermeasures without a separate license from CRI.

"The license will help NXP and its customers deliver secure products for smart cards and a variety of other applications," said said Kit Rodgers, vice president of licensing at CRI.

DPA is a form of attack that involves monitoring the fluctuating electrical power consumption of a target device and then using advanced statistical methods to derive cryptographic keys and other secrets.

Strong countermeasures to DPA help protect keys contained in tamper-resistant devices, such as smart cards or electronic IDs, which may be used in banking, pay television, mass transit, secure ID, wireless telecommunications and other industries.