We are prepairing to manufacture a first batch of a new product based on a Philips 89C51RB2 in-system-programmable micro.

We would like to offer the customer the ability to field update the software but are concerned that the intelectual property could be compromised. For this reason we do not want the customer to have the HEX code for the old or new software.

Has anyone figured out a solution to this problem? I figure that a custom boot loader in a separate flash block running a decryption algorithm might be the answer. We can ship encrypted code to the customer thereby protecting the IP. Any comments or alternate suggestions would be welcome.

Regards,

Bert