Secure in-system programming for FPGAs

By Michael Mertz, Actel Corporation     
Programmable Logic DesignLine
(10/26/2005 2:53 PM EDT)

Controlling access to - and protecting the intellectual property inside - an FPGA is a requirement known as "Secure ISP"

FPGAs are being chosen more and more frequently to comprise the heart of the modern electronic system. There are several possible reasons for this – low cost, ready availability and increasing sophistication of FPGAs – but chief among these must certainly be the ease with which FPGA hardware can be reconfigured to adapt to potential changes in the system specification.

Hardware reprogrammability is the "killer app" that is realized in FPGA devices. The benefits are numerous. In addition to the obvious benefit of changing the function of the silicon with virtually no additional cost – a huge advantage over conventional ASICs – the ability to respond to changes in specifications, add features, or configure customer preferences "on-the-fly" virtually guarantees longer product lifecycles and improved profitability.

An extremely important consideration is the extent to which the FPGA program can be configured safely in situ – i.e., with in-system programming (ISP) – such that system designers accrue the greatest benefit. It is clearly desirable to be able to change the system program after the system has been completely fabricated, indeed, even when the system is deployed in the field. It is also desirable, in most cases, to control when the device is reprogrammed and to do it securely. In short, a complete package of capabilities to control access to and protect the intellectual property inside the FPGA is a requirement known as "Secure ISP."

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