The RT-63x Root of Trust IP are fully programmable FIPS 140-3 compliant hardware security cores with optional Quantum Safe security by design for data center, AI/ML, as well as general purpose semiconductor applications. They protect against a wide range of hardware and software attacks through state-of-the-art anti-tamper and security techniques.
As Edge AI and other applications requiring protection evolve, device and system architects face a growing array of security threats, including the threat from quantum computers. Across applications, one constant is the need for a hardware Root of Trust-based security implementation.
The RT-63x Root of Trust family employs a custom 32-bit RISC-V siloed and layered secure co-processor, along with dedicated secure memories. The RT-630 features several high-capability cryptographic accelerators such as AES, HMAC, SHA2/3, RSA, ECC, and a NIST-compliant Random Bit Generator. It is FIPS 140-2 CMVP Level 2 Certified. The RT-631 adds the OSCCA SM2/3/4 Chinese cryptographic accelerators. The RT-632 builds on the RT-630 adding ChaCha20 and Poly1305 cryptographic accelerators. The RT-634 takes the robust feature set of the RT-630 and adds a Quantum Safe Engine with FIPS 203 ML-KEM (CRYSTALS-Kyber) and FIPS 204 ML-DSA (CRYSTALS-Dilithium), as well as XMSS and LMS stateful hash acceleration, to safeguard against quantum computer attacks.
Satisfying use cases such as identity management, (Caliptra) attestation, and secure boot, the RT-63x products are ideally suited for data center and AI/ML applications where FIPS 140-3 validation is required and security is a priority.
How the Root of Trust Works
The Root of Trust is an independent hardware security co-processor design for integration into semiconductor devices, offering secure execution of user applications, tamper detection and protection, and secure storage and handling of keys and security assets. The Root of Trust offers chipmakers a siloed approach to security; while located on the same silicon as the main processor, the secure processing core is physically separated. A layered security approach enforces access to crypto modules, memory ranges, I/O pins, and other resources, and assures critical keys are available through hardware only with no access by software. The Rambus Root of Trust supports all common main processor architectures, including ARM, RISC-V, x86 and others.
The Rambus Root of Trust supports multi-tenant deployments by offering true multiple root of trust capabilities. Each individual secure application can be assigned its own unique keys, meaning permissions and access levels are set completely independent of others. Secure applications are siloed from each other, ensuring the best approach to security. OEMs can determine access levels and permissions for each and all processes operating within the secure processor.
Dedicated FPGA configuration
The RT-630 is available in a FPGA configuration, targeting synthesis in programmable logic. This configuration is designed to map optimally (for max utilization and max frequency) into an FPGA fabric and connect either to on-board or external CPUs. In addition, the design is expanded with an additional OTP emulation model to overcome the lack of (or limitation of) true nonvolatile one-time programmable memory in certain FPGA families. This module allows storing secure assets in external flash in a secure way.
Secure Applications
Included with the RT-63x Hardware Root of Trust products are a series of standard secure applications (“containers”) to speed development, including secure boot, identity management, HSM reference, and others. A container development kit (CSDK) is also included to allow the development of custom containers for specific use cases.
Rambus can optionally offer dedicated FIPS 140-3 support packages to its licensees that provide FIPS 140-3 related certification documentation, FIPS test scripts, and dedicated FIPS support.
