Secure System-on-Chip

With the Secure System-on-Chip platform, BCDC is researching an open and secure processor platform that is characterized by hardware/software co-design. In addition, the platform combines the Secure RISC-V processor with a secure element to maximize security through tamper-proof hardware.

The primary goal is to support the industry in the development of circuits, especially with regard to the interaction of hardware and software for secure solutions. We can offer the hardening of existing designs as well as support in the certification of secure systems through to security labels.

We thus address customers who generally have a need for hardware-secured security features for their services or products in order to make them future-proof. This applies in particular to industries that process sensitive data, operate critical infrastructures or are active in security-critical sectors, as well as providers of internet-enabled hardware in general.

Our customers benefit from our many years of experience in research and development as well as our collaboration with the industry around the RISC-V security ecosystem/overall system and can therefore use our existing knowledge of the individual elements such as secure software, secure execution environments or the secure element as a root-of-trust solution. In addition, we provide the know-how about the interaction of these individual elements in a secure overall system and supplement this with several best-in-class security laboratories. In this way, special design requirements can be met and design flexibility increased.

We offer you comprehensive consulting, development, implementation and integration of secure processor architectures, suitable associated operating systems or hardware trust anchors. A security laboratory for analysis, service and consulting as well as rapid prototyping in software (simulators) and hardware (FPGA) are available for validation.

The research and development content of the platform includes security-specific implementations, integration, adaptation and further development of components such as the operating system (Linux), the Secure RISC-V processor (based on CVA6) and the Secure Element (based on Open Titan). This is rounded off by the integration of specific functions such as memory, interfaces or accelerators, depending on the requirements of the solution.

»As the designer of an embedded system, I want a central component that can efficiently manage the overall system due to its high computing power and fulfill security-critical tasks such as the encryption of data. This allows functions such as data processing and communication to be bundled in one place, which reduces the demands on the required interfaces and resources.«

»As a developer of applications for the system, I want a platform that supports me in the implementation of security functionalities and requirements. I want to be able to use modern hardware-based security functions that are necessary to support new technologies.«

»As a developer of system functionalities, I want to be able to quickly integrate safety-relevant components by supporting standard libraries and interfaces. This reduces the development time and developed software can also be reused in other products. The integration of these functionalities must not compromise the overall security of the system, even if external components are used.«