Democratizing Roots of Trust from Silicon to Software


With a vast amount of devices getting connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) and the growing number of low-cost attacks being developed to hack such IoT devices, it is clear that the need for embedded security solutions is rising dramatically. A security subsystem in the main system-on-chip (SoC) of a device can be deployed to offer secure cryptographic services to the applications running o... » read more

Power Module Design for Electric Vehicles – Addressing Reliability and Safety


This report presents an integrated approach to the efficient design of power modules used in electric vehicles and other high-power systems. The proposed flow enables the design of power modules for safety and reliability, co-optimizing die and package and obtaining power modules with reliable thermal performance at the design frequency and operating temperature. By incorporating a “shift lef... » read more

Increasing Design Flexibility With RISC-V-Based Processor IP


The semiconductor industry increasingly needs more flexible and scalable processor architectures, driving the growing adoption of RISC-V. Originally developed at the University of California, Berkeley, the open-source RISC-V instruction set architecture (ISA) has become very popular in recent years. RISC-V allows designers to customize their processor implementations to meet the specific needs ... » read more

LLMs Show Promise In Secure IC Design


The introduction of large language models into the EDA flow could significantly reduce the time, effort, and cost of designing secure chips and systems, but they also could open the door to more sophisticated attacks. It's still early days for the use of LLMs in chip and system design. The technology is just beginning to be implemented, and there are numerous technical challenges that must b... » read more

Confidential Computing: A Key To Secure Cloud And Edge Environments


Historically, data security was primarily focused on safeguarding data residing within systems controlled by the users themselves, such as on-premise storage and server infrastructure. In such a siloed environment, information stored on the storage media, Data-at-Rest, was encrypted to ensure security. Data-in-Motion (aka Data-in-Transit) was safeguarded by encrypting it before transmitting it ... » read more

Partial Header Encryption In Integrity And Data Encryption For PCIe


Partial Header Encryption (PHE) is an additional mechanism added to Integrity and Data Encryption (IDE) in PCIe 6.0 to prevent side-channel attacks based on attacker analysis of the information included in the headers. This blog narrates PHE flow and Cadence VIP support for PHE in IDE across PCIe/CXL protocols. Background Introducing PCIe's Integrity and Data Encryption Feature is an excell... » read more

CMA/SPDM—An Additional Layer of Security for PCIe Transport


In today’s data-driven world, everyone is navigating a vast ocean of information that transcends across unsecured links and can easily fall prey to digital hackers. To keep our data safe, it is crucial to beef up security and make sure that only the right users can access our data. This article dives into the world of secure communication, where component measurement and authentication (CM... » read more

Security Concerns Weigh Down Open-Source EDA


Open-source EDA tools are free, readily available, and growing in numbers, but many chipmakers are wary of using them due to security concerns. On the plus side, proponents say these tools can help attract fresh new talent to chip design. Yet despite their spread online — GitHub alone has more than 140 EDA-specific repositories — using visible source code can provide new avenues of attac... » read more

Sustainable Rail Transportation With High Power SiC Modules: Part 2


In the first part of this blog, we had a look at how energy-efficient high-power modules contribute to the decarbonization of railway transportation. This part will focus on the future of traction: high-power silicon carbide modules, their key features, and the multiple system benefits they enable. Silicon carbide power modules and hybrid-propulsion trains: It’s a match! As we inch toward... » read more

Challenges In Reducing Wireless Latency


A new and much faster version of Wi-Fi is beginning to infiltrate the IoT market, reducing latency that has begun to creep up as more data is generated, processed, and moved wirelessly from one device to another. An estimated 20 billion connected devices are currently in use. Over the next several years, devices will start to include faster wireless connectivity, enabling more rapid transfer... » read more

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